Brand New Raven (NOS)

[rayban33]

Hello Raven owners. I am new to the Raven, and forum. I'm glad I found you guys. 2 days ago I went by lowes to find a Raven sitting out front for sale. Every guy going in stopped to look it over. It was marked down to $700.00. They told me I could have it for $600 (10% off purchase = $540). It had sat outside in their yard for 2-3 years. I knew nothing about the Raven, but I had to have it. It was just the machine. No manual, no charger.


I replaced the starter battery, gassed it up (never had been fueled. Stable still tied to the filler neck. Air filter spotless). Once the fuel made it to the carb and it ran like a champ. 


- Generator is working fine. 

- Won't move with engine running, generator off, generator master on or off

- I have the mower deck off the machine. PTO switch on or off, it doesn't move.


With the motor running, generator switch off, I can set the transmission to forward or reverse, and turn the key to battery the machine will inch forward while the motor is spinning down. it doesn't seem to matter if the 48 volt battery pack is plugged in, or not. No go.

** does it need a functioning 48 volt battery charged, or partly charged to operate in hybrid mode?
** should I spend more money on the mower? I have spent $540 on the mower, and $60 on the starter battery. I'm sure I can force lowes in to taking it back. "Clearance" doesn't mean that they can sell me something that they apparently should not have sold me. The battery store said they will take the starter battery back if I had any problems. I like the mower. If I spend the money on a new 48 volt battery will my troubles be over? If it will ride, and mow, I may take a chance on the rest.

Should I be "All in", or "All out"? Please advise. Thanks in advance, Rayban

[gary]

If 48v main battery is below 42-44v it wont go until charged up by running your motor/gen. My generator is only suppling 22v to the 48v battery and now my Raven wont run due to battery being low. Im looking for a voltage regulator, seems to be problem from what ive read on the forum.

[gary]

I would say all in if you enjoy the funkiness of the Raven, and don't mind doing your own maintenance. mower deck has been my only problem in two years ubtil now, with the voltage problem.

[rayban33]

Thank you for the quick responses. The 48 volt battery being 2-3 years old without anything more than an initial charge, I would expect to be less than dead. I will check the battery voltage, and voltage being supplied to the battery by the generator. I am guessing (hoping) that the generator is trying to charge it. I am no stranger to fixing/maintaining all types of equipment. So I guess if the charging system is working correctly, I am going to buy the 48 volt battery. I saw some links to buying new. Any additional pointers would be awesome.
I am in need of a 48 volt charger as well.

Thank you again, Rayban

[larrys]

Most likely 48v battery pack is dead is your reason. If you start it up and turn on the deck, if it moves then you know your battery pack is shot. You can buy batteries online to replace all 4 of them. When looking for chargers buy something higher than 48v. DGP supplied 58v chargers. There is a good source buried inside one of the threads but I can't seem to find it.

Most issues them is the blade motor controllers mostly. This is the reason Lowe's pulled the business from DGP. Parts are available if needed and I have them.