No, this post isn’t an accidental duplicate of this post from last year. Yes, the self propel unit on my 21″ SP Ego lawn mower failed a second time. (This is 9 months after it was replaced under warranty from the first failure, which occurred around month 4 of ownership, so this failed self propel motor lasted twice as long as the first one.)
However, I’m quite pleased with Ego’s warranty service compared to the last time when I had to take the mower to Home Depot’s service department (who kept it for 5 weeks).
This time when I called Ego’s customer support number, I only had a seven minute hold time before talking to a person, and the customer support representative said that they would send me out a new replacement mower, arriving in 5-10 business days. [I was instructed to remove the serial number sticker and take the defective mower back to home depot “for recycling”.]
I have read many accounts on Ego’s customer web forums of other self propel units failing, so they may have had a bad batch of mowers go out and are now being more pro-active about replacing them. Alternatively, maybe I’m getting a replacement mower shipped out quickly because this is the second issue I’ve had. Regardless, receiving a working replacement in 5-10 days is much better than taking 5 weeks for a repair. I’m still going to have to push my mower to mow the lawn (and it’s a big lawn, so this is more exercise than I am looking for….) but at least I could use the defective mower as a push mower until the replacement arrived and didn’t have to hire a lawn service while it’s in the shop.
The new mower arrived 11 business days after my phone call (it would have been 10, except UPS had a delivery exception and delayed it over a weekend, which meant I had to push the old mower around one more time.
After using the new mower with its super quiet and silky smooth self propel, I can say that the self propel unit that home depot repaired/replaced had many signs of problems before it finally gave up the ghost. First, it was louder than the mower itself. Second, it didn’t have enough power to fully propel the mower up a slight incline. Third, every time the mower went into overdrive due to thick grass, the self propel would slow down. These issues were either there from the time I got the mower back from Home Depot, or they started and got worse so gradually that I hadn’t taken note of them, but after using the new mower, it became obvious that I should have known my self propel unit was not working the way it was supposed to. On the new mower the self propel has plenty of power to move up a grade at the same speed it moves on flat ground, it makes less noise than the blade mower, and it doesn’t slow down when the blade mower goes into “overdrive” cutting thick grass.
Update: Ego has started to produce updated 21″ SP models that have an updated self propel unit that matches that found in their dual battery (premium) mowers. Look for a picture of a phone on the box (see this video for details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtLkT5X4MQw )
2nd Update: My self propel unit failed a 3rd time, but this time Ego replaced the mower with one that has a different looking SP unit, so I’m hopefully I got the improved version!
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Have 21″ self propelled mower bought from HD 2 years ago. Last year the self propelled feature failed and I was sent new mower. This year the mower completely died (nothing worked yet battery was full). Brought in to HD per EGO”s direction for warranty repair, that was over 6 weeks ago. Yesterday, HD finally said they looked at mower and it needs a part but doesn’t know when it will arrive or if/when it can be repaired when it does arrive. Called Ego CS and all they did was call HD repair and tell me a manager will contact me when part gets in and of course stated it’s the peak season for repair which I find unacceptable for a mowers to remain broken for almost 2 months. HD is a large national company and EGO’s contract with HD should provide better than a 2 month turnaround REGARDLESS of the time of year. Had I known the unreliable experience I’ve had this past 2 years for this $600 mower coupled with outrageous warranty wait times, I would NEVER have bought this mower period.
I agree. My EGO self propelled mower is totally dead. Battery fully charged, back up batteries as well. Nothing works on the mower, not even in self propelled mode without cutting, not even the lights.
I also am on my second Eco, got sent this replacement from warranty, doesn’t self propel , lasted a few months when it stopped completely.. very annoying since I had purchased an extra battery, cost over $400.00.. I appreciated your written documentation dealing with Eco battery operated lawnmowers… hopefully I find a mower that lasts longer than a year
My EGO self propelled mower has stopped functioning. I have had the mower for 2 years. It functions like a manual mower.
It sounds like your self propel unit has failed. If you bought it from an authorized retailer and are the original owner, the Ego 5 year warranty will cover you, give them a call to start the warranty repair/replacement procedure.
Got my mom’s ego 1 year old propel motor dead! Cannot find receipt as she now has Alzheimer’s so I call to set up warranty and they tell me without receipt and since the product has been ” transferred ” to new owner they won’t cover. Most bush league company i have ever dealt with. Pitiful arrogant customer service and do not stand behind a poorly designed product. Buyers beware! This is a flawed product!! 300\year to cut your own lawn is no deal. Going back to my reliable honda!!
Only had my self propelled mower for 1 year and maybe used it 8 times. Self propel stopped working. I would not recommend EGO products. It is May and my grass is growing like crazy. It has been in a repair shop, given to me by the Customer Service person because I refused to wait the length of time Home Depot warns about. The repairman has asked for a replacement for me since EGO has never got back to him on parts and timing. So far it has been 1 week.
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My self propel mechanism has failed as well. Fairly certain that I have a old version circa 2017. Does anyone know if EGO is replacing old mechanisms with the same part or if they are upgrading old mechanisms to the new mechanisms? Or does the new mechanism only fit on the new version of the mower? (And how do I get one of those instead of a replacement part ?). Thanks!
Jesse, have you gotten any answers to your questions? I have the same thoughts that you do. Can they repair my old self propel unit with a new version unit? And if it is possible… would they do it? Seems like it’s been awhile since you posted your text. Have you gotten any answers?
Purchased EGO LM2100SP Self Propel on 03/19/2019. Never what I expected after reviewing info prior to purchase. Money not well spent in my case.
Although nice to use for me for my small lawn it never had the power to mulch properly so I gave up and bagged everything. On 06/29/2020 it stopped working. Battery charged, headlights worked and self propel worked but not the blades. Advised by EGO CS to take to local Home Depot for repairs. Told 2 to 3 days. On 07/07/2020 called Home Depot and told mower in transit to another facility for repairs and it would be 4 to 6 weeks. That would make a total of 8 weeks without the mower!! Warranty work it great but in my case 2 months without a mower is not.
I too have had my Self Propel quit. Does anyone know where I can find a wireing diagram for the Self Propel system ?
I have a new LM 2100 self propelled mower. The blade works but the self propelled function stopped. How do I fix it?
If you bought it new and have the receipt (or have already registered it) you should call Ego support early in the morning and they will tell you how to get it repaired under warranty. I don’t know of a way to fix it yourself, but presumably if you could find the right replacement part it’s just a matter of installing it.
My LSM2100SP purchase April 2019 has an issue where the SP is stuck on high and will not slow down. I am 70 years old with lung issues and can’t run behind it very long. I only have .25 acre lot but it’s hard for me to push which is why I purchased it the SP in the first place. I contacted EGO repair line listed in the book. They checked my warranty information and gave me a name and number to call for warranty repair. I called and explained my situation and they laughed and stated they only repair what they sale. That didn’t go over well as I mentioned to EGO I purchased mine from Home Depot. I called HD and yes they will repair it but it could take 2 months……now I am pissed. I guess my wife (76 years) and I will take turns pushing the POS until mowing season is over here in SC
My mower, purchased at HD has been at the repair facility since the first week of august 2020, causing me to have to purchase another mower since th3e grass in SC grows well into October. It is now October 20,2020 and still no word from E-GO.
8 weeks is a bit much, I’d suggest you call Ego back. (They have recently changed from HD to Lowes as their main distributor, hopefully repair times will be better?)
I have an ego mower that is going on it’s third year. This spring first time use, the self propel lever failed to work and it left me with one speed which is very slow. I found a new switch online and ordered it from Amazon. I replaced the switch but it has no resistance, and just moves up and down but does not change the speed of the mower. What I want to know is how to fix this mower so I can move more than at snail speed. Plus how to get a little resistance when pushing the lever up and down to change the speed of the lawn mower. Can someone help me on this point. I also thought it was the battery so bought a new one. It was $437.00 and had to turn it in at Lowes who gave me $373.95 for the battery towards a new ego lawn mower. Now I am still trying to fix my old one. Please give me some help as to how to fix the old one.
Since you have already replaced the speed control lever, the likely problem would be a break in the wire(s) between the lever and the control unit. You will have to take apart the entire handle assembly and test the wires to figure out where the break is and repair/replace it. [I assume you are not the original owner and so the warranty does not cover you, otherwise, you should have Ego fix this under the 5 year warranty on the mower.]
You have a break in the red wire where it bows when the handle is collapsed – when the handle is extended, the wire stretches and breaks contact, leaving the mover drive in low speed. Just repaired mine and it works fine now.
I’ve been considering purchasing a self propelled EGO battery operated mower but now I’m reconsidering other brand options after reading the reviews of EGO products.
I’ll just continue to use my reliable 1992 TORO self propelled gas engine mower. It starts first or second pull of the cord even after being stored in a shed during a Minnesota winter…..(gasoline removed before storage)
At the time I purchased it, the Ego was the best electric option. I’ve been very impressed by the actual mower (cutting blade & motor) part of it, but less so of the self propel drive units. Ego has done a good job of standing behind their 5 year warranty on the mower, but when my warranty runs out I’ll probably pay for a consumer reports to see what the current options are in electric mowers before buying another. (On the other hand, I’ve got a lot of Ego batteries ;>)
I purchased the EGO 21″ power mower in 2017 and got 5 good seasons out of it. This fall the part that causes the mower to propel forward failed. The mower would still start but I could only get forward motion for a few feet and the engine would die. So I ordered a duplicate model from Amazon and got quick delivery. But it wouldn’t start. So I boxed it back up and requested an exchange rather that refund. The exchange came quickly. But it wouldn’t start. So now there are two EGO mowers on their merry way back to Amazon and I am awaiting a refund. I won’t order another one as I am 85 and not disposed to long term solutions to the problem.