It's the BATTERIES, People!!!!!!! From Snow Blowers and Lawn Mowers to Watches and... well pretty much everything else

 

Of course this blog post was born from my using a snow blower, my Greenworks40v Snow Blower. With just under 2 inches of snow, I decided to use the Greenworks machine as the Troy-Bilt gas-fueled monster seemed like overkill (and for my wife's and neighbors' sakes, the Greenworks machine is a LOT quietee. Initially, I was going to just give an updated review of its functionality, but my thougts expanded after most of the driveway was finished.

For the record, the Greenworks 40v still works very well. Like all machines, it clogs up when you try to power through very wet snow, and it also clogs and shuts off if you try to power through well-packed so. What snow blower doesn't. As for throwing distance, it's decent. Just remember to open the chute up higher (more fully?). If the chute for the machine is near parallel to the ground, the machine's throwing distance gets a lot shorter. I did have an issue with the chute coming off twice, each time precipitated by me trying to power through heavier/wet snow or ice chunks. Since being mindful of this, I haven't had an issue. Now, for the epiphany. 

As I got close to finishing, piles of heavier snow all that remained, the battery gave out. Now, I purchased a generic batter as a backup as it was really inexpensive versus the Greenworks brand battery I had. Welp, the next battery I pulled from the garage was the Greenworks battery. The difference in machine performance was incredible. When the machine was running on generic battery power, it had it's struggles with heavier snow, which required my slowing my walking speed. After putting in the Greenworks battery, the machine definitely had more pep and had an easier time with the heavier snow. Those snow piles I'd left untouched were easy to deal with with the Greenworks battery.

Lithium-ion battery technology has been in the works for decades, Nasa of course being one of the earliest in entities interested in the need for powerful, long-lasting batteries. Dr. M. Stanley Whittingham (currently a chemist at Binghamton University in NY) led the pivotal research and testing in the 1970s that truly led to Lithium-ion batteries as we know them. For the record, he now works at the university where I completed my Master's, which I learned this morning. Moving on. Since Dr. Whittingham's achievements, lithium-ion batteries have become a major part of our daily lives powering everyday devices including snow blowers, lawn mowers, automobiles, chainsaws, tractors, and so much more. From my experience, brand name batteries generally stand up better strength-wise and in length of time a battery holds a charge. Be mindful of this when powering devices.

*** As for watches, I buy generic batteries to power watches I repair, and in the last year, brand name batteries lasted longer (some generics I purchased lasted only 6 months). As I give away watches for free, I unfortunately can't afford brand name batteries. For those getting their own batteries, I recommend brand name choices such as Duracell and Energizer. Just sayin.