Lawnmower stopped working

[gtrance]

Hi there,

I have a Quaclcast power-trak electric lawnmover.

http://www.qualcast.co.uk/rotary/powertrak34.html

End of summer last year it stopped working. I was mowing the lawn and to begin with the engine sounded like it was fading out before coming back again. Then it cut out altogether. I unplugged, replugged, swapped extension cable, it started working again, I unplugged replugged etc couple more times. It briefly came back on then cut out and stayed off permanantly.

I know next to nothing about electrics or the inside workings of a lawn mower but before I pay for repairs or a new mower, I wondered if anyone could suggest a likely cause and solution to fix this mower.

Times are difficult at the moment and I'd rather have a crack at fixing it or replacing a part if it's a common and simple to fix problem instead of immediately forking out cash for a new mower.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to any replies.

Kind Regards

Greg

PS - I wasn't sure if to post this in this section or the appliances section. Apologies if I chose the wrong one.

 

[wotan]

Hi Greg

If it's not a loose connection anywhere, then it could be the motor brushes.
Check the cable from end to end, unplugged of course, it may be damaged.
Spare brushes should be available from manufacterer.

Wotan

 

[digdilem]

As you say it faded out and then came back again, I'm thinking it's most likely to be a poor connection in the lead, or the connector - and the pull on the lead caused the power to be cut momentarily.

As you've swapped extension cables, we can probably rule out a fault with them but the advert mentions a long lead. With it unplugged, inspect this lead VERY carefully for scuffs and cuts.

If the lead is fine visually, then it could still have failed internally - but if so it's most likely to have failed at the flex point where it joins the mower, OR at the plug end. Or the switch could have failed, or something inside - but most likely to be the lead. Also open the plug and check one of the conductors hasn't pulled out.

You could also google the model number and "problem" to see if there's a common fault too, might cut down your diagnostic time.

 

[gtrance]

Thank you both for your replies.

I had inspected the cable and it was okay. However last night I undid the plug and then opened up the box panel on the mower that the lead goes into and sure enough, one of the cables had broke off inside. I've re-attached it and it's working fine.

Thanks very much for the help. Time to mow that lawn!

Cheers

Greg