Briggs & Stratton InStart Battery Alternative

On a recent trip to the local supermarket I found a Lawnmower on special offer, 50% off. In the market for a new lawnmower a reduction from 430€ to 215€ was too good an offer to refuse.

However the reason it was on offer was because it was a Briggs & Stratton electric start model, and they had lost the battery and charger! I purchased it on the spur of the moment, thinking that I would buy a battery and charger and still make a huge saving. I hadn’t banked on the cost of a replacement battery and charger costing in the region of 140€!

I decided to try to adapt one of my existing power tool batteries to do the job. On investigation I found that a mini hedge cutter from Lidl had a rechargeable battery pack that was very similar in voltage and current as the Briggs & Stratton model.

I used TinkerCad to model the battery adaptor in two parts, one part would slot into the lawnmower battery holder and the second would hold the Lidl battery.

The Main Block

Printed in PLA upside down with a 0.2mm resolution and 20% infill. Adding support for the two side slots.

The Lidl battery holder
Again printed in PLA with a 0.2mm resolution and 20% infill. Support added for the height location ring.

The design and print files can be downloaded from Thingiverse,

or on my website My Project Corner

To make the connections between the Lidl battery and the Briggs and Stratton terminals I used some copper strips salvaged from an old light fitting.

As well as the inserting the copper terminals, I added a 30mm long x 6mm diameter compression spring into the center hole.

The copper terminals are then soldered to finish the unit.

The battery tends to bounce around a bit if left in the adaptor, so I take it out while using the mower.

Other than that, it works really well & saved me 140€

Visit my website at My Project Corner for more details