Please School Me On Batteries For Mobility Scooters

not anything other than my experience but i have found that allowing the deep cycle marine battery to stand up longer by allowing it to totally discharge and then slowly recharge (I use my 6 amp charger) for 24 hours. I have usually gotten 5 years out of my batteries.

Hate to disagree, but I skimmed through to see if someone had already offered the opposite advice, which I believe is appropriate. Even Deep Cycle batteries will perform better, the less often they are completely discharged. Something about the build-up of crap on the plates. Using only 20 to 50% capacity is ideal, but at most you might expect to double the life of the battery anyway. As a rule of thumb; I'd simply charge it each day when you're done using it.

AH is simply Amp Hours, and you'll find BIGGER batteries will offer higher AH numbers. 12 VOLTS is what the machine runs off of, and it will not know the difference... except for BIGGER is HEAVIER, obviously... and it will last longer in roughly the same ratio as the AH is greater, minus a little for the added weight you'll be hauling around for it. Do note that any deviation from the manufacturers battery spec may require a change in battery connection (which any handy person could do in minutes.) Also note that any size/power upgrade will probably not fit in the little compartment, so you'd have to sacrifice the sleek looks for better function.

If the machine doesn't seem to be struggling with the load now, I would be tempted to change out the connections, if necessary, and replace that little specialty battery with a more standard Marine Deep Cycle Battery, as they are considerably cheaper and should last A LOT longer. Something like THIS. That one's available at Sears for $70 (with trade in), but you can find a similar battery just about anywhere car batteries are sold. I would expect much better performance with such a battery, for a lot less money, because it is so much more widely used and competition mandates the quality/cost ratio be a good one. The example I linked comes with a 1 year full replacement guarantee, 2.5 years pro-rated replacement if (when) it eventually weakens.

Finally, if you do move to a standard battery, you'll probably want to invest in a "smart charger" as well. A smart charger begins by rapidly charging the battery at the beginning of the charge cycle (which is good for keeping the plates clean), and then slowly eases back to a trickle charger as it gets closer to fully charged. This offers the speed of a quick charge, with the quality of a slow charge, and will actually extend the life of your battery. These machines can also be used to "recondition" a battery when its performance begins to slip.

Best wishes!

No ****? I wish I'd known this existed back when I drove my old Mustang.

Cycloptichorn

That was certainly the hot tip for NiCad batteries.

Still a good tip for NiCads... and lith ions too, no matter who tells you they don't "learn."

You would probably have been better off figuring out whether your alternator was going or you had a short somewhere.

Haha - both happened!

1972 Mach 1, 351 Cleveland, 6-Barrel carb. Fast as hell, lots of upkeep. Love it.

Someday I'm going to drop an electric engine into that baby and ride off into the future, smooth, silent.

Cycloptichorn

You've pretty much described the situation. She bought the scooter, a lift for the trunk of her car, and batteries in 2003 and fully charged it after every use. When it was not used for awhile, charged it once a week.

She says the problem occurred when she hurt her back while doing some remodeling in her house a few years later and wasn't able to use the scooter or go out to periodically recharge it. A month later when she felt better, she tried to recharge the battery to prepare it for use and it would not take the charge. Apparently she hasn't used it for several years since then because of how expensive the battery replacements were from the scooter store.

Do you think it would be worth it to try a smart charger on the battery or is it just too old and been too long since it last had a good charge?

I wasn't able to work on the scooter today, some transcription jobs came in that I had to give priority to. I'll take the thing apart tomorrow to get the dimensions and exact specs of the existing batteries.

Bill, is your post telling me that I should not get the 12V 33AH batteries at the Amazon link and should stick to the 12 or 17 AH ones?

We don't have extra money to spend on converting to anything else right now. I just need this to get her through the next month while she's having to be transported back and forth to doctors at hospitals.

I am thinking that nothing larger than the 12ah or 17ah will fit inside the battery pack case.

On page 25 of the manual it even looks as though the 12ah battery has slip on connections while the 17ah battery has bolt on terminals which means you would need to modify the wiring. So the simplest cheapest route to get you going again would be to just get a pair of 12ahs.

The battery folks agree with Bill re discharge/recharge.

http://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/mobility-scooter-wheelchair/

http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html

"Replacement: The life of your battery depends on many things--how and how much you use your mobility scooter or wheelchair, how you maintain it and how you keep it charged. Most insurers, including Medicare, pay to replace batteries annually, so be safe and replace the batteries regularly, before you find yourself (and your mobility scooter or wheelchair) immobilized. "

$33 for 12C 12AH at that site. Free ground delivery. Tech help line to help you figure out what to order.

Mesquite and ehBeth used up all the good answers... save the question about the smart charger reconditioning the old battery. Frankly, your guess is as good as mine. If money's really tight, you could purchase a deluxe smart charger from Walmart and give it a try. Then return it if it doesn't work.

ehBeth, thanks! That site is exactly the kind of info and help I was looking for.

Good - I hope you can help our dear Aunt Bee get things sorted

She's special (in the very good way).

Yes she is, and so is that website you gave me. I called, sent them a photo of the battery I removed from the scooter and they were able to match it and will be sending 2 of them to arrive by Tuesday all for $74. Compared to the $300-400 the scooter stores want to charge, that store and their service is very special too.

Thanks for helping me by finding it. I read all the tutorials available on it and will probably also invest in a solar recharger from them when I have some extra money next month. That way it won't cost anything to recharge it regularly as long as we have the New Mexico sunlight available.

Thanks again, ehBeth.

And thanks to everyone else who contributed to my schooling, too.

And thanks from me as well you all answered my questions but 1. Does the deep cell marine battery last longer on trips then the ones the scooters come with??

They would both be deep cycle batteries, so I'm guessing that if the amp/hour rating is the same, the answer would be yes.

Note the use of the word 'guess'.

no,no,no in a mid 60's Mustang it was always the alternator

Being an Electronic Technician, I can answer that question. A/H means Ampere/Hours. If a battery is rated at , say 12 A/H, then it will theoretically deliver a current of 1 Ampere for 12 hours, 2 Amperes for 6 hours,etc.This is not completely true though, due to the discharge 'slope' during use.You will not get quite the range you would expect, but you will be close. If her scooter requires a 12 A/H hour battery or batteries, then that size is what you should install. DO NOT install smaller A/H batteries, or you will cut down on the range between charges. If you install a larger A/H battery or batteries, you will increase the range she will have between charges. However, the charging time will increase for the larger battery or batteries, using the same charger as she did with the smaller battery or batteries. Also, another question crops up. that is the size (dimensions) of the larger battery or batteries. Can it ( if using only 1) or they ( if using 2) both fit in the battery space on the chair or scooter without having to modify the space, removing the cowl or cover, etc.? Anyway, I hope that answers your question.

AH refers to amp hours,

Post was 8 years ago.