SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20180415-B2F4E-2147388606. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Greenworks MO60L00 (Greenworks 21 inch, 60 volt lithium-ion, brushless motor, cordless mower. Model M060L00.). Incident: My electric mower started spontaneously and without warning. I tipped the mower on its side to clear away already wet grass under the deck and was using water from a garden hose; I had not removed the battery yet. The blade went to full speed only inches from my hands. I had to place the mower back on its wheels and pull out the battery to get it to stop. I reinserted the battery and the motor started again without having to pull back the bail lever and/or press the safety lock-out button as usually required. I repeated this several times with the same result. The red safety key next to the battery was the only other way to stop the mower motor. I have a 572 MB video of this process. The mower is relatively new; purchased in June of 2017 and used about 6 times. Each use consumed only 1 indicator bar on the battery. That is about 20 minutes of run time x 6 total use. A warning in the manual says not to expose mower to water to "reduce the risk of electric shock" but does not mention unexpected or spontaneous starting of the motor. It also states to remove the battery before cleaning but again does not warn about unexpected or spontaneous starting. I am certain others will do exactly as I did and will suffer permanent injuries. This is a major safety issue and should be addressed. I checked the mower today and it appears to have returned to normal. It is obvious now that the water somehow got into somewhere it should not have. I was not injured and am not asking for compensation of any sort. This was truly a "Close Call" for me, a couple of inches would have change my life fo