u/DarthWoo

https://www.reddit.com/r/batteries/comments/15an45w/what_battery_connector_is_this/

After much searching I found at least this reference to the plug on my decade+ old Craftsman lawn mower. In the above thread a poster was able to find the part number for the whole charging cable, but I was hoping that the actual plug was just some generic part used in the system.

My goal is to splice a Ryobi battery adapter into my lawn mower for the key start rather than looking for a ~$50 battery that dies within a few years and also requires working under the deck to replace. If I could find this plug, I could splice the adapter directly into the plug and plug that into the wires that run between the key and the starter.

Or would I be better off just cutting the cable coming out of the old battery, crimping some terminals onto the end of the cable still plugged into the starter, crimping terminals onto the Ryobi adapter, and connecting them with a terminal block?

I'm tired of having to replace the 12V batteries on a pair of Champion generators every few years and I've heard some success stories about people using adapters to plug Ryobi or other power tool batteries in their place. I have utterly no experience with electrical work however.

From what I've understood so far, I'd need one of something like this: https://www.amazon.com/KOEZEOI-Converter-Aadpter-Regulator-Automatic/dp/B0CM413HG4?th=1

Now here's the thing, I want to keep the wires from the generator as stock in case I ever have to go back to 12V batteries for whatever reason. As per normal, they end in ring terminals. I expect I'd need to strip the ends of the wires on the battery adapter, apply ring terminals to those, and then find a way to connect them to the corresponding starter wire.

Are there ring terminals that I won't need a heat gun to shrink onto the wires? Can I just buy one of those little terminal blocks to keep everything organized without connectors hanging everywhere? I'm not as familiar with those, so I was thinking this: https://www.harborfreight.com/6-circuit-dual-row-terminal-block-2-pack-70586.html, but it seems kind of big for something I'd need only for two(?) circuits. It is cheaper than any of the smaller ones I see on Amazon though.

So that this doesn't look like total patchwork, is it safe to rig up some wooden frame to hold the battery adapter and its transformer as well as the terminal block and keep it secured where the 12V battery would have been?

If everything works right, would it just be a matter of plugging a battery (I understand I'll need a larger capacity battery to ensure I can get sufficient cranking power) into the adapter and pressing the generator start button like I normally would?