Hello forum members, it’s a pleasure to have somewhere to ask this question. I’m a lawncare business owner and I run Ryobi battery handheld equipment. Ryobi isn’t a professional brand but I’ve found it to be a very good value of performance to price and is semi disposable as the battery lawncare industry is constantly evolving and I don’t want to be wrapped up in $4k worth of commercial equipment that’s built physically to live past the technology.
The problem is I’m left handed and the industry is generally built around the right handed. String trimmers (weed whackers) almost always rotate counter clockwise and it causes a lot of issues not being able to trim in the walking direction that’s required of such rotation. I’ve been using a curved shaft trimmer attachment because there’s no geared head like in a straight shaft but it holds my efficiency back considerably.
I’ve looked into this and thought I could fashion a dual direction powerhead with the use of a 6 pin mpmt rocker reversing the polarity of two wires going to the motor. I spent the morning yesterday fashioning jumpers and connectors to install the switch but when I did it only worked in the stock rotation. When the switch was changed the motor just shook. Taking the time to research further I learned that sensored brushless motors are particularly involved to reverse with good performance.
So, I’m hoping some will offer their take on what I’m up against and possible methods of attack. I realize that I’m leaving out technical information about some important specifics but maybe, if I’m lucky I wrote enough clues to narrow down my particular motor and control configuration. Here’s a picture of the whole motor and wiring assembly from Ryobi and hopefully it’s standard enough to offer some input. The other picture(s) are what I tried yesterday. I’ll add that to rule out operator error with the mpmt switch I tested reversing the polarity of two wires without the switch and it still shuttered. The whole motor assembly can be easily turned both ways so there’s no mechanical things stopping the other direction. Thanks for any input that comes to this post.
The problem is I’m left handed and the industry is generally built around the right handed. String trimmers (weed whackers) almost always rotate counter clockwise and it causes a lot of issues not being able to trim in the walking direction that’s required of such rotation. I’ve been using a curved shaft trimmer attachment because there’s no geared head like in a straight shaft but it holds my efficiency back considerably.
I’ve looked into this and thought I could fashion a dual direction powerhead with the use of a 6 pin mpmt rocker reversing the polarity of two wires going to the motor. I spent the morning yesterday fashioning jumpers and connectors to install the switch but when I did it only worked in the stock rotation. When the switch was changed the motor just shook. Taking the time to research further I learned that sensored brushless motors are particularly involved to reverse with good performance.
So, I’m hoping some will offer their take on what I’m up against and possible methods of attack. I realize that I’m leaving out technical information about some important specifics but maybe, if I’m lucky I wrote enough clues to narrow down my particular motor and control configuration. Here’s a picture of the whole motor and wiring assembly from Ryobi and hopefully it’s standard enough to offer some input. The other picture(s) are what I tried yesterday. I’ll add that to rule out operator error with the mpmt switch I tested reversing the polarity of two wires without the switch and it still shuttered. The whole motor assembly can be easily turned both ways so there’s no mechanical things stopping the other direction. Thanks for any input that comes to this post.