7.2V Gardena Hedge Trimmer Compatible Battery Accu6 3600mAh

Gardena hedge trimmer cuts fine for a minute then slows down and almost stops — new battery, why?

This is voltage sag under load, and it's the most common complaint with Ni-MH packs in light garden tools like this ST6. A freshly charged cell can show a good resting voltage but collapse the moment the trimmer motor draws current — especially if the pack sat unused for months before installation. Cycle the battery through three full charge-and-discharge passes to let the cells condition and reach stable capacity. After the third cycle, check that the trimmer maintains consistent blade speed through a full cut — if it still bogs, the cells are not recovering.

My Gardena ST6 trimmer works but the blades feel weaker than the old battery even though this one has higher capacity — what's going on?

Higher capacity (mAh) does not mean higher power output — it means longer use between charges, not more cutting force. Blade feel is driven by voltage delivery and internal resistance, not capacity rating. Ni-MH cells also need a break-in period; on the bench we see output stabilise after the first few full cycles rather than straight out of the box. Run the trimmer until the battery fully depletes, charge it completely, and repeat — blade response should normalise by the second or third cycle.

Gardena Accu6 battery charged all night but the trimmer dies really fast — is the charger actually doing anything?

Ni-MH chemistry is vulnerable to false full-charge signals, especially with older Gardena Accu6 chargers that use simple timer or trickle methods rather than delta-V detection. The charger may terminate early or trickle at too low a rate to fully saturate a 3600mAh pack — which is a larger capacity than the original 2000mAh cell the charger was designed around. Check whether the charger gets warm during the charge cycle; no warmth at all after several hours usually means it stopped prematurely. Try a known-compatible Ni-MH charger with a manual capacity setting, or one that confirms charge completion with a solid indicator light rather than just elapsed time.