Electrical Vehicles as Home Electrical Power Backup Systems

     One way to expand the value of ANY EV to it's owners is exactly this! Design capacity into the vehicle's charging systems, battery management hardware and software of the EV for use as alternative power source in times of owners' home area electrical grid supply failure. These EVs have battery energy storage capacities rivaling if not far exceeding some home power backup battery storage systems. The New Ford F-150 EV has 131 Kilowatt-hours of battery energy supply when fully charged! The smallest EV SUV I know of has a battery system with 78 Kilowatt-hours of energy storage capacity!

Ford has teamed up with Sunrun, a Chicago area corporation in the business of making home electrical power battery backup Systems for this precise purpose. Ford TV ads touting this F-150 EV feature have been appearing for weeks already.

How a Chicago-area solar company transformed a pickup truck into a backup home generator

The Best Cordless Electric Snowblower Going Today

You folks with corner lots or long driveways like mine might want to get one of these in anticipation of the inevitable big snow fall. These EGOs can out throw most gas powered single stage snow blowers of their size. 

This one sells for $799 but the battery system with 2 ea 7.5 AH 56V batteries on board in the 2 live battery chambers with auto switchover at battery charge depletion give you 2/3 of the energy on board that my 1 1/2 ton 2020 Honda Insight hybrid sedan has in it's drive battery system for wheel motordrive via the collectively 100hp pair of motor / generators! For less hefty workloads the same machine with 5 AH battery packs sells for $599.

This is only one of a growing array of EGO 56v powered home yard equipment all of which use the same battery system. One of my neighbors swears by them, owning the snow blower, mower and string trimmer. I envy him a bit but still swear by my Ryobi 18v One + 22" Hedge trimmer and One + string trimmer. I also have a One + yard blower and 3/8" Drill / Driver. Ryobi sells over 100 different 18v One + equipment items that all use the same battery system.

As I've said before about yard work, Be Happy, Go Cordless Electric

My Possibly Quirky Upper Respiratory Anatomy

    This is a post about a quirk in my epiglottis and why those of you with various similarly quirky features in your breathing anatomy probably shouldn't be scared off from seeing an appropriate specialist for possible problems with them or by the procedures they commonly perform.
My epiglottis is somewhat uncommonly omega shaped as I'm told by my ENT physician, Dr Samuel J Girgis, who's gotten multiple up close thin, flexible endoscope views of it.

My epiglottis' shape is a possible factor in my hospitalization for infectious inflammation of it in July 2016 and a likely source of today's very scary fleeting breathing difficulty / E.R. trip event in the wee hours. Untreated inflammation of it can obviously close down the airway with equally obviously dramatic consequences.
Those endoscopy procedures for this area of the respiratory tract with specific purpose designed flexible endoscopes sound and look gross and scary but they are in fact not inordinately uncomfortable though fully patient awake, and completely pain free, for me at least.

The ones with hard endoscopes on the other hand, not quite so much and only good for view of the nasal passages, sinuses and nasopharynx (see image at top). I've had both but MOSTLY (thankfully) the former type.  My attitude toward hard scope procedures (I have managed to endure a couple of them with no pain or other negative consequences)  may come from from medical equipment engineering experience born knowledge of EXTREMELY RARE mishap events fueling (irrational?) fear of hard things entering my body from any source. . Yes pilgrims I AM NOT PERFECTLY RATIONAL!
    Please follow the contrasting colored text links by clicking on them to find further very relevant information provided from various on-line sources

The Wrong Wall To Worry About

    Donald Trump's Infamous wall on our southern border is not the "wall" US citizens should be most concerned about. There is a far more troubling "wall" regarding our government once established as "of the people, by the people and for the people". That would be the wall of money the greediest of great wealth among "we the People" have constructed around themselves and access to the processes of government in the USA at the Federal, State and Local levels to varying degrees. 
      We've been in this situation before but back then there were less than 1/4 as many people in the USA and no electronic media of any kind nor anything like the similarly totally conglomerated print medium we have today in the USA to buy our attention with. 
     How did we get to being an oligarchy, as living past US Presidents have accurately(?) described 21st century US government? There are probably a bunch of theories but I trace it back to the "greed is good" days of the Ronald Reagan Presidency and the beginnings of dismantlement of the regulatory system that preserved access of ALL people to the processes of government and the integrity of the National assets we all depend upon for survival.        
   The strongest blow against resistance to the progress toward our current oligarchy came from the US Supreme Court in a series of 5-4 rulings dismantling the protections of our election campaign and lobbying systems by regulation of money's influence over them. They essentially put those systems up for purchase by the highest bidders by literally equating money with free speech with no limits.

As A Biomedical Engineering Technician, What Was I?

    As A Biomedical Engineering Technician, What Was I? That's the title I came up with for my first blog post about my 37 year career as a BMET which ended with my retirement from Hines VA Hospital in November 2009 . 
    My mind somehow wandered this morning to thoughts of all of the vast array of technology I worked with and on as a BMET for 37 years, most of which as an in-house tech at VA hospitals. I decided it's time to take stock, a so far not unpleasant experience. 
   Mine was a "trade", more of a calling one might say, that required significant mastery of the details of every different technology; electrical systems, electronics, computer systems and networking, communication systems, mechanical systems, thermodynamics, pneumatic systems, fluid dynamics and flow control systems, chemical reactions etc. each medical device employed to function. Not only that but one needed basic understandings of all of the physics, chemistry, biology and human anatomy and physiology behind and driving the function of the vast array of diverse medical equipment each of us was charged with maintaining and repairing. 
   My last few years at Hines VA Hospital were by far my best and most rewarding. In those closing years of my career I was gifted with not only management that appreciated my well earned expertise in vital signs monitoring and cardiology equipment, but also the availability of then new technology to enhance the performance of all of those medical devices for patient well being and to greatly extend the time between failures of the care area equipment systems.  The fact that I FINALLY mastered the divide between the people oriented mindsets of nursing staff and the machine oriented mindset we biomedical engineering technicians must have was a HUGE factor in my successes in those years as well. Having excellent care area managers facilitated that change.  

Troy-Bilt Flex System for Homeownwer Yard Care

   The Troy-Bilt Array of "Flex" system options

    This is an intriguing design for a single power unit that connects to a  variety of functional front ends. It's very inventive and "out of the box" engineering. That's what I like about it. What's not so inventive and out of the box about it is that it is COMBUSTION POWERED! I see no logical reason why it shouldn't be adapted to battery / brush-less DC motor powered operation. In fact that would make it a FAR more efficient user of energy and since the mechanical design could be FAR simpler, a more reliable system. 

    How is the latter possible? It is an unavoidable fact that mechanical linkage consumes far more power than electrical connections and wiring do in such close distances. Mechanical linkages are also far more complicated and all parts of them subject to physical wear under use that electronics and simple wire connections are not subject to. 

    The obvious way to switch it over from gas to battery energy source would be to make the power unit just the battery and wheel drive unit with electrical power delivery electronics and minimal electrical control and power delivery connections to the functional units. Each functional unit would have it's own specific purpose designed motor(s) and some function specific control electronics. Today's electronic power delivery control systems operate CONSIDERABLY more efficiently and reliably than mechanical power delivery systems.

    For example; the mower front end would be best designed with separate identical brush-less DC motors for each blade. That reduces the mechanical linkage to ZERO. The best design for the power unit's wheel drive would likewise be a brushless DC motor for each wheel achieving the same mechanical simplification. 

Cub Cadet RZT Zero Electric Riding Mower

     I cite the years on the market now Cub Cadet RZT Zero Electric Riding Mower as prime example of this electrical power design concept. Also every other currently available twin blade electric mower I'm aware of uses direct connected motors for each blade.

Flex System Snow Thrower Unit

     Same would be true of the snow thrower unit with separate brush-less DC motors directly connected to the auger and vertical impeller , possibly somewhat different in design per the 2 functions.  

    As always, follow the highlighted text hyper-links to web pages offering more information on the specific subjects. Right clicking on the links and selecting "Open link in new tab" works best for me.

My Old / Newer SLA battery Rotary Mower Love

 

    This is what my Neuton CE-5 14" 24 volt cordless electric mower looks like. Neuton says it's the quietest on the market and I have no evidence to the contrary after 15 years of using this and prior to it the same size and battery pack Neuton EM 4.1 mower. It sells as a 2 in 1 mower. As seen it is in bagging mode but it comes with a mulching plug that inserts in the back of the mower  with the bag removed. It can also do side discharge operation with the separately available chute that is mountable in place of the bag as well.

   One advantage of this and their CE-6 19" 36 v mower is that they use Sealed Lead Acid batteries. That's what your cars and trucks have but these are in use removable /replaceable battery packs that contain 2 (24v) or 3 (36v) 12 volt standard scooter batteries. A simple fact of rechargable batteries is that the devices they are used in ALWAYS outlive the batteries by 2-5 times. These SLA packs, unlike the more common today Lithium battery packs in cordless yard equipment, can be rebuilt with new 12v batteries. A replacement pack for my CE-5 costs in the $100 range but the replacement 12v batteries to rebuild one can be bought for as little as $18 ea. quite often from a wide array of on-line and local bricks and mortar vendors. I have accumulated 4 packs. 

An EM 4.1 like mine

Neuton CE-6 

      Another advantage of the Neuton mowers is that the new Neutons have a battery status meter on the top of the handle. It's a simple 3 zone analog meter with red, yellow, and green zones. All else being equal simpler is almost always better. 

    Speaking of simpler, That battery rebuild for the Neutons is BY far the simplest of all of the available SLA battery powered mowers on the market. The video below is about the CE-6 packs but the CE-5 packs are identical but for 2 vs 3 batteries enclosed. It takes me ~ 10 minutes start to finish when I have everything in front of me for the task. 

     The battery chargers are an issue these days however.  My EM 4.1 came with a "dumb" charger 14 years ago. As I said the CE-5 uses the same battery pack. A "dumb" charger is one that has NO auto-shutoff at full battery charge. For a few years after the CE series came out Neuton shipped "smart" chargers with the auto-shutoff feature but reverted back to "dumb" ones by the time I bought my CE-5. I bought one of the "smart" ones back when they were carried by Neuton. Why is that a big deal you may ask. Simply put overcharging ANY rechargeable battery wreaks havoc on available runtime and lifespan of the battery. "Smart" chargers don't let that happen and "dumb" ones do.

    This is a source for a smart charger usable with a 24v Neuton mower.  They sell 36v models too that are good for the 19" CE-6. Note: you need the ones with the "Axial" battery pack connector. 1  to 1.6 Amp models should suffice. See the "This is an automatic battery charger which stops charging and goes into float mode when the charging cycle is complete to prevent overcharging" In the product description that defines them as "smart".

Easy Care Lawns My Way

    I'm the sort of person who'll spend a significant effort in the short run to avoid far more effort and expense in the long run. So it has become with the management of the 2500-2800 sq feet of lawn on my 120' x 60' home lot. It didn't take me many years to become disillusioned with the more heavily media advertised lawn care products and redirect my attention to more "organic" options. 
    I've always been something of a techie and interested in the science of what I'm trying to manage in my life at any time. I found that there was significant knowledge of that sort related to lawns readily available with a little searching. In fact there is a lot of capacity to avoid effort and cost in lawn care available with relatively little knowledge.
    The number 1 thing one needs to know about lawns as we Americans are lead to see them is that they are not something that can be found in nature with any regularity.
    The number 2 thing to know is that you must assume that generally the heavier a lawn care product is advertised, the better your buying it serves it's maker and vendors versus your actual needs!
    Fertilizers are an excellent example. By far the most heavily advertised lawn fertilizers are those with the highest Nitrogen content.  Something that evades most folks attention when they approach the business of lawn care is that 79% of the air they breath is nitrogen! Lawn fertilizer that's 20% or more soluble nitrogen is not only wasteful and productive of  leaching and runoff of contamination into ground and surface water but can often be toxic to the bacteria normally occurring in the soil that fixes atmospheric nitrogen. Too much of anything is toxic to something. 

    One other factor in managing a lawn that is not very often mentioned is soil PH, the acidity or alkalinity of the soil on a 1 to 14 scale. 7 is completely neutral PH. Most plants require a slightly acid PH (less than 7) Simply put most lawn grasses thrive at a higher PH than most broad-leaf weeds. Therefor you want to manage the PH to stable in the 6.5 to 6.8 range.

How? Granulated lawn lime is readily available at low cost. I mix about 1 to 2 pints of it per drop spreader load of fertilizer which is an ~ 50/50 mix of Lawn Restore and Milorganite. I usually include 1-2 cups of Ironite in the mix to add a little mineral content. In the fall I increase the lime content to compensate for the mildly acidifying influence of the autumn leaves. I mulching mode mow them down in tiny fragments to the soil surface where they fall. The leaf fragments are very good food for the indwelling beneficial soil building organisms..The Lawn Restore carries cultures of some beneficials.

    Another example is the predominance of bluegrass in most readily available lawn grass seed mixtures. In fact bluegrass is by far NOT the only class of turf grass varieties that can produce that deep green lawn color we all know and love in lawn care commercials. Most bluegrass varieties tend to be some of the more shallow rooting grasses available and as such, much more susceptible  to drought and heat damage.

    Not many years into home ownership I turned to tall fescue varieties and then to endophytic tall fescues. Both tend to be some of the deepest rooting turf grasses with the enhanced nature of the endophytics the deepest rooting. Endophytic refers to having a beneficial fungus (the endophyte) transferred via spore in the seed that grows within the plant enhancing water and nutrient distribution and producing a plant eater toxin that kills all attacking bugs and grubs. The variety mix I generally use grows roots up to 6 feet deep.  

     After years of over-seeding with these grasses, I only water my lawn when a neighbors' large dog emptying it's bladder kills a patch that needs re-seeding and extra water to get going.
    Just like virtually all things earthly there are a couple of disadvantages(?) with these grasses. The extremely valuable endophyte in spore form tends not to survive in the seeds for more than 1 -1 1/2 years after the seed is harvested. Seeds with dead endophyte will sprout as well as other types but lack the enhanced quality the endophyte would provide. Secondly, since the endophyte infuses the plant with plant-eater toxin, most concentrated at the base of the plant, ANY animal grazing on it will be rendered somewhat temporarily less healthy. Some friends of mine have well loved dogs that graze on their lawns almost like sheep. This grass is not a wise choice for them.

   See the following previous posts related to lawn care:

http://willyvon1-willyswill.blogspot.com/2012/04/corn-gluten-magic-stuff.html



http://willyvon1-willyswill.blogspot.com/2015/07/lawn-mowing-combustion-free-future-is.html

http://willyvon1-willyswill.blogspot.com/2017/04/cordless-e-mowers-for-2017-cloned.html



    

Cordless E-mowers for 2017: Cloned Brothers From Other Mothers and More

       This is primarily about mowers that appear to be new to the market for 2017. The image above is a montage of various new and old models of just the 40 volt lithium ion battery types on the market now. 
      Along that line, here are a couple of  40 volt "Cloned Brothers From Other Mothers" I've run across on line that appear to be new to the market this year. They may be re-designs of same class previous models from these "makers".

Craftsman 40v 3 in 1

Black and Decker 40v 3 in 1

    Is it just me or are these mowers IDENTICAL! They are the Craftsman and Black and Decker 40v LI battery cordless electric mowers currently advertised for sale. The only difference I can see is that the space behind what looks like a carry handle has a spare battery pack storage bin with the B&D model, and the color of plastic they are made from. 

   Here's a TRIO of 60 volt  "Cloned Brothers From Other Mothers"

Greenworks 60v 21" 3 in 1

Snapper 60v 21" 3 in 1

Kobalt 60v 21" 3 in 1

        Here we go again, almost. Another 3 identical cordless electric mowers from different "makers". It begs the speculation of a 3rd party making them all 3 for sale as Greenworks 60 volt 21" 3 in 1 mower, Snapper 60 volt 21" 3 in 1 mower and the Kobalt 60 volt 21" 3 in 1 mower. The only differences I see are the motor cap shape, color and labeling, and wheel "spoke" casting. That aside they look like VERY GOOD additions to the cordless electric mower market.

Black & Decker 20", 60 volt, 3 in 1 mower

     4/18/2017 update: This machine, from Black and Decker incorporates active battery pack chambers for 2 packs loaded concurrently. They're only 2.5 Amp Hours / pack which provides only 300 Watt Hours of stored energy with 2 full chambers but it also includes circuitry to automatically switch from one battery to the other when optimal discharge level is reached.

Greenworks 20" 40v G-Max Twin Force mower.

   

  4/18/2017 update: This Greenworks twin blade mower has been around for a few years and was my first pick for many folks new to mowing for some time even though it doesn't offer a side discharge option, only bag / mulch modes. It runs with 2 motors and 2 battery packs and has always had that automatic battery pack switchover feature for user convenience. The twin blade system is actually more efficient because it takes more energy to keep 1 20" blade spinning than it does to spin 2 10" blades. It's a basic centrifugal energy principle that load on / energy demand by a motor goes up exponentially as the distance from center of rotation to the center of mass of the rotating load  increases. Simply put, each additional inch of blade length costs more energy to spin than the last. It's something I learned decades ago when I was doing a lot of work repairing medical laboratory centrifuges.  

     Some of you lawnmower neophytes may be asking in your mind, "What the **** does "3 in 1" mean?" It's very simply a reference to the grass clippings handling options the mower's design accommodates. Directly it means they offer bagging, mulching and / or side discharging operation. Obviously only 1 of the 3 at any one time. This feature is what you want. It allows you to save time and money and to use the machine for multiple purposes.  

     I use my Neuton 14" CE-5 SLA battery powered mower in side discharge mode most of the time. The 14" blade / deck generates considerably less suction to pull all the "layover" grass blades vertical for cutting so I have to do double passes in this and mulching mode. 

     I use the mulching mode of mine (for the above 5 machines that would be with the bag off, a plug inserted into the to-the-bag rear port and the side discharge port cover closed) mostly for reducing autumn leaves where they fall and driving the fragments down between the grass blades to feed the ever important beneficial organisms that build and maintain the soil quality for me. 

     As I said it's side discharge mode for me most of the time. That's for the same purpose my mulching of fall leaves is about as well as saving me from the burden of handling the clippings and burdening the waste stream with them and my pocket the cost of that. 

     I use the bagging function for grass clippings only when I need some for covering the soil around my veggie garden plants to keep moisture in the soil and weeds from growing.        Another purpose for my "bag" mode is to reduce my neighbor's fall leaves before placing them in a bin for later use as "Brown" matter for my composting system. 

    Bagging also works for reducing dried hedge clippings and dead plant material from veggie and ornamental gardens to be used the same way as the leaf fragments from neighbors.

    My main point here is that a rotary 3 in 1 mower can serve more purposes in your yard than just cutting the grass every week or so!

    The highlighted brand names of the mowers in the text above are hyper-links you can click on to access further information and pricing on each per vendors of them.

    My plan is to edit this with updated information as it becomes available including other notable new entries into this cordless electric mower market so you may want to check back once in a while for that.

The Carbon Combustion Behemoth: Status of the Rebellion

    This man. Elon Musk is perhaps the most well known of the purveyors of hope for those of us wise enough to see that the behemoth of the collective carbon combustion power and fuels "industries" is dedicated to pursuit of a path certain to take life on our planet Earth as we know it into extinction. Most of his fellow illuminators of truth are the so far successful targets of silencing by that financially dominant "behemoth".

                                                                Tesla roadster

                                                                 Tesla Model S                       

                                                                 Tesla Powerwall

                                                                  Tesla Model 3

    The evidence of that Behemoth's influence is everywhere. A few years ago my local Ace Hardware store carried an array of cordless electric lawnmowers, albeit small and already then out of date technologically. Today they carry none! They are not alone. There are a few bright spots though none seem to be where any evidence of spreading wisdom on this subject would be indicated, the small franchise retailers of homeowner supplies and equipment.
    Some of the Big Box retailers like Menards and Home Depot carry some of the best options, if still in the minority of the variety of mowers etal they stock. 
    I live in La Grange Park, a very typical in lot size suburb of Chicago. My 7200 square feet lot, also quite typical of the area, once the space for the house, garage, shed, planting beds, driveway, patio and sidewalk pavement and hedges are deducted leaves approximately 2400-2500 square feet of lawn to mow. Many homeowners in the area have considerably less lawn area and a minority somewhat larger lawns.
    Every spring, summer and fall day in my neighborhood and others nearby, we residents are assaulted at various times of the day with the loud drone of commercial combustion mowers, trimmers and blowers of the several lawn services that many of our fellow residents have resorted to using vs the overcomplicated combustion equipment they used to employ to do the work themselves. 

    It's sad, really, as many of them might have found out how much simpler cordless electrics would have made their work and opted for that had the "behemoth" not so completely misinformed them.

NEBULIZERS FROM A TECHIE USER'S VIEW: NOT ALL ARE EQUAL

     Many of you with breathing difficulties will recognize this Respironics Side Stream Plus nebulizer set. As an asthmatic I have experienced the use of other brands and models upon visits to physicians offices and ERs. As also a retired biomedical engineering tech, I get that this is the only one I'm aware of that doesn't waste the medication vapor constantly produced by the nebulizer to room air between inhalation and exhalation. The others are, literally wasteful! It's also the one I was originally supplied with for home use by Lincare. 

     Just behind the mouthpiece you can see the top of a silastic valve flapper that stays closed to room air except when the patient is inhaling. Also, on the top of the mouthpiece there is another silastic flapper valve that opens when the patient exhales. At exhalation the internal flapper is held closed. That is exactly how this set uniquely conserves the medicated vapor the nebulizer produces for patient inhalation only!


     Here's what mine looks like with their "Mini Elite" nebulizer pump. This one clearly has the battery for cordless operation installed to the underside of the pump. Mine has no battery attached.

     I'll be editing this post in the future with description and illustrations of how the pumps work as well as how the sets work. Here's a start:

Lawn Mowing: The Combustion Free Future Is NOW

Mean Green's 48" Stalker stand on, zero degree turn commercial cordless electric mower 

     The age of combustion powered landscape maintenance equipment both for homeowners and commercial operators is ending. The age of rechargeable battery powered equipment has arrived, at all levels. There are even cordless electric small farm tractors on the market now. All of the time and money drain to deal with combustion engine startup, ongoing maintenance of complicated motor design and fuel handling  are becoming complete non issues for lawn, landscape and even some farm maintenance equipment. 

A small sample of what's available for homeowners

    I'll limit this discussion almost completely to mowing equipment, starting with homeowner grade mowers. The options for them have almost literally exploded. The market for cordless electric mowers is nothing like what it was 12 years ago when I bought my 14" Neuton EM 4.1 with it's in use replaceable 24volt sealed lead acid battery packs. 

    Note the plural. I, as do all wise owners of them, maintain a spare (2 in my case) battery pack to accomodate the reality that mowing workload varies as much as the weather. Also the nature of most rechargeable batteries is that they require routine drain to nominal fully discharged state with each use /charge cycle to maximize per charge runtime and overall battery lifespan. Owners need to be ready to swap in a spare whenever that occurs mid use. It's just like having that can of gas around for the same purpose with gasoline powered mowers.

    That Neuton of mine was pretty much the only one of it's kind on the market when I bought it. I wasn't able to find ANY other with in use replaceable battery packs at that time. I think both Black and Decker and Toro had SLA battery powered rotary mowers but both machines required significant disassembly to replace the battery pack. Both of those same models are still on the market. Toro's is the only battery powered mower they sell. Black and  Decker now offers in use removeable SLA battery models and a lithium ion battery model. Their in use replaceable SLA battery model has been around for just a few years less than I've owned my Neuton.

    The image at the top of this post is of one of an array of fully commercial grade mower options offered by Mean Green Products.  They offer complete crew equipment packages which include one or more large swath walk behind or riding mowers, a 20" push mower, hand held trimmer and blower (both use the same backpack carried battery pack), all required battery chargers and a fully enclosed trailer all wired up with outlets for charging the all lithium polymer battery powered equipment's battery packs.

I became aware of Mean Green via the photo of  Eco-Lectric Landscaping Service's array of equipment which cycles up on the top of their home page. Their owner, Josh Flowers, was featured in the following video promoting Greenworks Pro 80 volt mower. 

    The comparable Mean Green 20" mower costs several times the price of the Greenworks 80 volt model, part of an array of same battery pack powered yard equipment which among others includes a 20" single stage snow blower. How about never handling gas or pull starts in the "dead" of winter to blow snow? Greenworks also makes a more extensive array of same battery pack powered 40 volt equipment, their G-Max lineup.
    All that lithium battery powered stuff aside, there is still something to be said for the old (or new) SLA battery powered equipment. SO FAR, there isn't any standard, easy way to renew / reload lithium ion battery packs with new batteries like there is for SLA(sealed lead acid) battery packs. 

    The cost of reload can be more than 50% less than purchase of a replacement SLA battery pack. I can complete the reload of any of my Neuton 24v packs with a pair of new, standard, 12v, 10 AH batteries in about 10 minutes using one simple tool. I'd never waste my time with 12v 9AH batteries like the guy in the video though. I've seen the 12v 10AH batteries on sale for as little as $18 each. The Neuton packs that use them cost $89-109 depending on whether they're on special or not. All the SLA packs I'm aware of incorporate industry standard 12v SLA batteries and therefor offer that reload possibility.

   The final proof of the maturity of battery powered landscape maintenance equipment is clearly shown in this video about the Sol Trac battery powered tractor. It appears it's Power Take Off is capable of operating standard PTO powered equipment such as ganged mower rigs, large roto-tillers etc.