[coolguynick]

I’m sorry for the strange request, but I’ve always used gas powered tools and I’m considering going electric as my yard isn’t very big.

I’m looking at some Ryobi tools and I’m interested in this 40V lawn mower, blower and weed eater.

My question is, if something was improperly wired or the exposed wire on the mower ever got damaged…could the device become “hot” and shock or electrocute me while using it?

I sometimes cut in the rain (not on purpose, but it will start raining when I finish up) so my equipment gets a little wet and I want to make sure there’s no risk of getting shocked or electrocuted.

 

[jeffnc]

There are so many other reasons not to cut grass in the rain it's hardly worth talking about shocks. The risk of electrocution is near zero, but I suppose it can't technically be zero. I would say you run a much higher risk of getting cut and bleeding out than of being electrocuted. But if you're seriously concerned about safety - especially life or death situations - you shouldn't listen to anything random people on the internet say.

 

[chandler48]

Why would you cut grass in the rain? No one can save you from yourself.

 

[Chonks]

I think 40v is on the useless side as far as delivering a shock through skin. There's a reason tasers are 10k+ volts. Of course these batteries can put out multiple amps as opposed to a taser's 1/10 amp. It'd probably be more of a burn than a shock. Wonder if any YT dummies have put probes in these batteries and touched them to see what happens.

I definitely wouldn't be mowing in the rain tho. These electric machines are too expensive to risk water damage.

 

[coolguynick]

There are so many other reasons not to cut grass in the rain it's hardly worth talking about shocks. The risk of electrocution is near zero, but I suppose it can't technically be zero. I would say you run a much higher risk of getting cut and bleeding out than of being electrocuted. But if you're seriously concerned about safety - especially life or death situations - you shouldn't listen to anything random people on the internet say.

Why would you cut grass in the rain? No one can save you from yourself.

I think 40v is on the useless side as far as delivering a shock through skin. There's a reason tasers are 10k+ volts. Of course these batteries can put out multiple amps as opposed to a taser's 1/10 amp. It'd probably be more of a burn than a shock. Wonder if any YT dummies have put probes in these batteries and touched them to see what happens.

I definitely wouldn't be mowing in the rain tho. These electric machines are too expensive to risk water damage.

I don’t ever go out and mow in the rain on purpose, but there have been times where I started working in my yard (2 hour process total to mow, weed eat and blow) and it started to lightly rain when I was finishing up. The equipment got a little wet, but nothing too crazy.

I guess my main concern is if anything was ever dropped, damaged on the device (not the battery) could the tool become hot and shock me? For example, there’s a wire on the mower that goes from the engine to the handle for it to self propel…if that wire was ever damaged or knocked loose, could the 40V battery powering everything shock or electrocute me?

 

[chandler48]

Probably not, but with your history, stick with gas powered equipment. Much safer for you.

 

[mark sr]

I don’t ever go out and mow in the rain on purpose

Back when I was a single parent with young sons working 6 ten hr days a week, Sunday was my only day to mow - rain or shine. But it was with a gas mower.

 

[AllanJ]

Battery operated outdoor equipment is much less likely to electrocute someone as opposed to comparable house current (corded) equipment.

The dirt is not that great a conductor but if someone standing on the ground outside should touch an energized* exposed part on the machine, current*, which seeks to return to its source, is apt to pass through the person's body (and wet shoes) to get to the dirt and make its way back to the pole and up the pole ground wire and back to the transformer.

Whereas if an exposed part should get energized on a battery powered device, any current, perhaps after passing through someone's body, seeks to return to the other battery terminal, and would not have flowed without finding another exposed part energized in a different manner to get back.

* Fault -- Unwanted touching of bare wires or metal parts, some energized, often due to defects or due to wear and tear. Fault current -- Unwanted current flow due to a fault.

 

[jeffnc]

Yeah, that's a common misconception - that if you simply touch a hot terminal you're going to get electrocuted. Electricity is kind of like water in that sense - it has to have somewhere to flow to. Otherwise it's like a switch or a spigot in the off position. Now, touching both the + and - terminals with different hands that are wet would be unpleasant.

 

[viper]

Probably not, but with your history, stick with gas powered equipment. Much safer for you.

The safest for him is to call a yard service and stay indoors! The world is a dangerous place. All it takes is one misguided raptor in the air to drop a precision guided rock directly on sensitive wires of a moving mower just before said owner licks and touches his curious nibblets to the now damaged wire, causing immediate cardiac arrest.

On the pro side, EMTs will be able to use the exact same mower battery to shock said owner back to worrying about something else.

 

[sab1]

I wonder if the the baby-boomer generation would ask a question like this or did we teach Gen-X's to have OCD.

 

[FrodoOne]

My question is, if something was improperly wired or the exposed wire on the mower ever got damaged…could the device become “hot” and shock or electrocute me while using it?

You may choose to believe the following - or NOT.

1999 Darwin Award: Resistance is Futile

Darwin Award: Resistance is Futile: A US Navy safety publication describes injuries incurred while doing don't's. One page described the fate of a sailor playing with a multimeter in an unauthorized manner. He was curious about the resistance level

darwinawards.com

 

[Biscuits]

Whereas if an exposed part should get energized on a battery powered device, any current, perhaps after passing through someone's body, seeks to return to the other battery terminal,

Does electricity have an intelligence to know it's supposed to return to a battery vs. the transformer on the pole?

 

[Biscuits]

I wonder if the the baby-boomer generation would ask a question like this or did we teach Gen-X's to have OCD.

No. They were too busy siphoning gas from the truck with their mouth and hose to fill up the gas can for the mower.

 

[lenaitch]

Heck, as kids, our lawn mower was a corded electric (dad didn't want to dink around with small engines). My brother and I even ran over the cord a few times. I've augered through the cord on my hedge trimmer. I'm here to tell the tales.

Does electricity have an intelligence to know it's supposed to return to a battery vs. the transformer on the pole?

It's the potential difference at the electron level that causes electrical energy to 'flow'. The loop of a circuit allows the energy to flow through a load and back to a place of lower energy (the battery). The electrical energy stored in a battery isn't capable of running through a high resistance soil to a point of much higher voltage.

 

[shadowmanxx]

I’m sorry for the strange request, but I’ve always used gas powered tools and I’m considering going electric as my yard isn’t very big.

I’m looking at some Ryobi tools and I’m interested in this 40V lawn mower, blower and weed eater.

My question is, if something was improperly wired or the exposed wire on the mower ever got damaged…could the device become “hot” and shock or electrocute me while using it?

I sometimes cut in the rain (not on purpose, but it will start raining when I finish up) so my equipment gets a little wet and I want to make sure there’s no risk of getting shocked or electrocuted.

What a ridiculous and silly question.

Your gas lawnmower is just as likely to explode and kill you, as an electric mower is to shock and kill you.

Fell better now?