I dearly love my Snapper 48v mower and power tools, but they don’t offer an inverter that can run off them like some other power tool companies. So, when I saw a cheap power tool and the batteries go on sale, I figured I’d invalidate some warranties and reconfigure them into a home-build power system. Could I just buy a set of tools that includes an inverter? Sure. But where’s the fun in that? Also, I’ve already got a bunch in this line for my electric mower and I’m very happy with the performance.
A moment of silence for the soon-to-be-disassembled tool
On sale!
Because of end-of-season clearance, I was able to get the tool, two batteries and a charger for about $250. The trimmer was $50, the charger $25, and the batteries on sale for $85 each. This puts me in similar price range with other battery systems, but allows me to swap out my 48v 5Ah (240Wh) batteries as needed. I’ve wanted to build this system for a while using the batteries I use in my electric mower and chainsaw, so I figured this sale was a good opportunity to try building a back up system.
How would this work for appliance battery power?
I currently have five of these, meaning I can run 1kW with downtime to swap out cells. In a power outage a year or so ago, I was able to run our fridge for ~12h on a 48v 10Ah eBike battery without any problems. Using a Kill-a-Watt, I was able to determine our fridge could burn about 1kWh in a 24 hour period. Honestly, if you’re not opening and closing it, it uses far less. Hooking up some emergency solar panels I have, I could probably charge one or two of the 5.0Ah batteries per day. Not ideal, but it’s a start.
Weasel Words and Disclaimers!
This is all very stupid, likely a fire or shock hazard and definitely invalidates any warranties or responsibility of Snapper or Briggs & Stratton. I’m not a professional, but I do have a healthy respect for the amount of power involved. This project is for my own personal use, and I’m undertaking it under my Rights of Repair. Don’t try this at home, as serious loss or injury could occur.
Let’s Invalidate Some Warranties!
The initial system will essentially be a teardown of the hedge trimmers so that I can use the cradle to power a household inverter. What I’m…
medium.com
https://medium.com/@bigattichouse/diy-appliance-backup-power-from-repurposed-48v-power-tools-abc924e7804e
