I’m really intrigued by this setup as someone who has mowed a lot the past couple years.
Is the reason you’re mowing nearly daily because you have primarily suburban (near the home) turfgrass? I try to mix it up by zone - leaving some areas tall to help with soil water infiltration and evapotranspiration.
Also, how ‘moddable’ is the luba? Curious if it could run bigger wheels/tires to handle rougher areas.
OP can probably give a better answer, but the way these robotic lawnmowers work is they skim a tiny amount off the lawn each day. That way they can avoid needing more powerful motors, bigger batteries and blades, more risk of collateral damage, etc.
My mower needs to cut roughly 1.2 acres of land split between the front and back of my property. So I cut them on alternating days at 70mm cutting height (which gives the grass sometime to relax).
There are several “no go” zones and smaller gardens sprinkled around the property as well (these areas we allow to grow wild).
As for mods - nothing would be officially supported or recommended, unless you wanted to void warranty. The Luba 5000 is already equipped with AWD, so you can throw quite a bit at it!
Still wrapping my head around the path the lightning strike took. Depending on the details, perhaps your house was spared? I get that the buried wire acts like a ground, but why did the lightning pick that path to the charger?
If the buried wire is insulated, which it probably is (apart from where the lightning initially struck and burned through it), then the easiest path for the lightning to take would be along the wire and into whatever it’s connected to. I imagine it like water (electrical potential) filling up a dry river bed with a dam at the end. The water will try to take the easy path even when there’s nowhere to go at the end of it. Once it’s filled up with as much as it can hold, then the water starts finding new ways to travel and will eventually work its way to ground. Good thing it was unplugged, tbh! I am no expert but could imagine it damaging circuit breakers and such on its way around one’s house. Hopefully not a fire risk, but certainly could be an expensive repair.
Once the potential appears on the buried wire, it will just vaporize the insulation and complete the circuit.
I’m trying to understand the initial ingress. I’m trying to understand how the buried wire links to the home electrical system and to the charging station.
If it hits the power lines, depending on how recently the panel has been updated, the surge suppressor should handle it, but I don’t know if surge suppressors can take a direct lightning strike. The internet says, and I believe it, that surge suppressors will do nothing for a lightning strike.
Lightning is a fun subject and I wish I knew more about it. Thinking through it, if the lightning struck ground near your wires, that is enough. Basically the current is flowing radially through the wet ground at the point of the strike and it encounters the wire which is just a nice section of low conductance and it pulls more of the current through it.
Maybe worthwhile asking around if you need a lightning rod on your house.
We do have a 40 foot satellite antenna that holds a few dishes / devices. The lightning didn’t care about this at all and the electrician said it was most likely because of how wet (basically flooded at the time) the lawn was.
I”m currently looking at wire-free mowers, anyone have any other recommendations? We have a fairly small garden, but it’s pretty complex with various narrow areas and not many straight angles.
So far my main contender is the Ecovacs GOAT, despite the need for navigation antennas.
Goats are browsers, they prefer nibbling on shrubs and bushes, and apparently also tend to pull up grass by its roots. Great for clearing brush, but for mowing lawns sheep are better… though I had a friend who grew up on a sheep farm and they are apparently perilously stupid animals. Maybe rabbits? Though that has its own problems. “Sorry for the state of my yard, my lawnmower got eaten by a hawk.”
Maybe rabbits? Though that has its own problems. “Sorry for the state of my yard, my lawnmower got eaten by a hawk.”
One can put a large cage over the rabbits and move it around every few hours/days so they mow different areas while being protected. I think I read that in a book. You smart foxes might still get them, though. :-)
I’m really intrigued by this setup as someone who has mowed a lot the past couple years.
Is the reason you’re mowing nearly daily because you have primarily suburban (near the home) turfgrass? I try to mix it up by zone - leaving some areas tall to help with soil water infiltration and evapotranspiration.
Also, how ‘moddable’ is the luba? Curious if it could run bigger wheels/tires to handle rougher areas.
OP can probably give a better answer, but the way these robotic lawnmowers work is they skim a tiny amount off the lawn each day. That way they can avoid needing more powerful motors, bigger batteries and blades, more risk of collateral damage, etc.
My mower needs to cut roughly 1.2 acres of land split between the front and back of my property. So I cut them on alternating days at 70mm cutting height (which gives the grass sometime to relax).
There are several “no go” zones and smaller gardens sprinkled around the property as well (these areas we allow to grow wild).
As for mods - nothing would be officially supported or recommended, unless you wanted to void warranty. The Luba 5000 is already equipped with AWD, so you can throw quite a bit at it!
Still wrapping my head around the path the lightning strike took. Depending on the details, perhaps your house was spared? I get that the buried wire acts like a ground, but why did the lightning pick that path to the charger?
If the buried wire is insulated, which it probably is (apart from where the lightning initially struck and burned through it), then the easiest path for the lightning to take would be along the wire and into whatever it’s connected to. I imagine it like water (electrical potential) filling up a dry river bed with a dam at the end. The water will try to take the easy path even when there’s nowhere to go at the end of it. Once it’s filled up with as much as it can hold, then the water starts finding new ways to travel and will eventually work its way to ground. Good thing it was unplugged, tbh! I am no expert but could imagine it damaging circuit breakers and such on its way around one’s house. Hopefully not a fire risk, but certainly could be an expensive repair.
Once the potential appears on the buried wire, it will just vaporize the insulation and complete the circuit.
I’m trying to understand the initial ingress. I’m trying to understand how the buried wire links to the home electrical system and to the charging station.
If it hits the power lines, depending on how recently the panel has been updated, the surge suppressor should handle it, but I don’t know if surge suppressors can take a direct lightning strike.The internet says, and I believe it, that surge suppressors will do nothing for a lightning strike.As I heard it once. The lightning has flown ten thousand feet to find you. Do you think a half inch air gap will stop it?
My house was luckily fine. The lightning hit directly on the lawn in my backyard. Even my electrician was surprised with what happened.
I’ve recently seen similar cases online with these wires. Maybe the material is very conductive? I’m no expert on any of this…
Lightning is a fun subject and I wish I knew more about it. Thinking through it, if the lightning struck ground near your wires, that is enough. Basically the current is flowing radially through the wet ground at the point of the strike and it encounters the wire which is just a nice section of low conductance and it pulls more of the current through it.
Maybe worthwhile asking around if you need a lightning rod on your house.
We do have a 40 foot satellite antenna that holds a few dishes / devices. The lightning didn’t care about this at all and the electrician said it was most likely because of how wet (basically flooded at the time) the lawn was.
I”m currently looking at wire-free mowers, anyone have any other recommendations? We have a fairly small garden, but it’s pretty complex with various narrow areas and not many straight angles.
So far my main contender is the Ecovacs GOAT, despite the need for navigation antennas.
Perhaps an actual goat?
I think a wireless/unbound goat would ignore the boundaries I set, and likely also come into conflict with our dog…
I assume they want to keep the garden. :-)
Edit: I was imagining a garden of non-mown plants in beds with mown grass between them, but, if it’s all just grass, I guess the goat could work.
Goats are browsers, they prefer nibbling on shrubs and bushes, and apparently also tend to pull up grass by its roots. Great for clearing brush, but for mowing lawns sheep are better… though I had a friend who grew up on a sheep farm and they are apparently perilously stupid animals. Maybe rabbits? Though that has its own problems. “Sorry for the state of my yard, my lawnmower got eaten by a hawk.”
About stupid sheep:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2z3h3r
One can put a large cage over the rabbits and move it around every few hours/days so they mow different areas while being protected. I think I read that in a book. You smart foxes might still get them, though. :-)
I dunno, that sounds dangerously approaching effort…
https://americanliterature.com/author/banjo-paterson/short-story/the-merino-sheep
No idea why this is on an American literature site as Paterson was Australian; but it’s a great yarn (heh).
Robots are fun, we have one that cleans the floors, but for the outside I prefer it “wild”.
Ours isn’t that bright. It chews on the kids shoelaces and keeps trying to climb up the foot of the pedestal fan.
The mating rituals of household equipment