Re: (ET) E-15 first mow! And questions (manuals, charging, fuel level, mowing)

[john rieffel <rieffelj union edu>]

> The meter generally stays in the green, part way between "E" and "F" 
> while
> I'm mowing. Long grass might push it closer to the "E", but still in the
> green.

With the deck going, mowing moderately long grass, it starts out
somewhere at the midpoint, and over the course of 40 minutes or so
drops to the E, and as things progress, drops below the E,
particularly during surges of long grass.

>Does it go up into the white area to the right above CHG when you are
> charging? (And do you leave the main disconnect switch on when charging?)
> Flooded batteries can be overcharged a bit - it just means you will have 
> to
> add water more frequently. Better to err on the over rather than under
> charged end of things.

Disconnect is "on" (as backwards as that sounds) - and I can read the
power meter when charging.   It floats into the middle of the "CHG"
section during charging, and once I was charging (more on that later),
it was maybe 1/4" into the white.  That was at 10pm, when I stopped
the charge after about 3 hours (which seems short).  This morning,
after sitting over night, the needle has moved 1/8" into the green
(next to F).

I still haven't gotten a very satisfactory answer about charging.  How
do I know when to stop?  At the end of a charge, where should the
needle be with the charger on?  Where should it be with the charger
off?

How do I know when to add water, visual inspection?

I imagine that any "issues" I come across may have to do with the 3x12
setup I'm using.  Having read the manuals, it looks like the "power
booster" kit, which consists of 3x12s, increases range on the E15 by
1/3.    Using 3x12 exclusively therefore, is like only running at 1/3
capacity, right?  I guess I'd better start saving up for 6's.