{"id":89,"date":"2012-04-10T08:11:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T15:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debbiepetrina.authorsxpress.com\/?p=89"},"modified":"2012-04-10T08:11:32","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T15:11:32","slug":"optimizing-battery-life-for-electric-wheelchairsscooters-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"Optimizing Battery Life for Electric Wheelchairs\/Scooters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April 9, 2012<\/p>\n<p>Are you getting at least three years life from your 12-volt gel batteries?<\/p>\n<p>You should be.\u00a0 It\u2019s bad enough that power chairs and electric scooters are so expensive, but when you have to start replacing parts to keep them running the costs can be outrageous.\u00a0 A 12-volt battery costs from approximately $80-100, and most mobility devices need two batteries.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some tips to maximize the life of your batteries, especially scooters since these often are not used everyday like most power-chair users.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every time you use your scooter, charge it.<\/li>\n<li>If you\u00a0are a part-time user, take it for a ride around the block a few times at<br \/>\nleast once a week. Then charge it completely.<\/li>\n<li>At least once a month, let the batteries go into \u201cdeep cycle\u201d.\u00a0 This means run the batteries for as much distance as possible before they run out of \u2018juice\u201d.\u00a0 Then charge them completely.<\/li>\n<li>Store your equipment indoors if possible. Extremely cold temperatures in the winter or heat in the summer will not only reduce the amount of daily charge available, it will shorten\u00a0the life of the batteries.\u00a0 I learned this the hard way when I bought my first scooter twenty-five years ago. \u00a0I stored it in the garage the\u00a0first winter when I was living in Pennsylvania, and the batteries lasted only one year (which is a typical warranty on a battery).<\/li>\n<li>Sometimes\u00a0a cell in one battery can go bad, which will put extra drain on the second battery and shorten its life.\u00a0 If your batteries are less than a year or two old and you notice it starts slowing down, losing capacity or your battery indicator gauge is showing a low charge sooner than you think it should, get the batteries checked out.<\/li>\n<li>If your mobility device uses two batteries, never put an old battery with a new<br \/>\nbattery, or replace just one battery.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t buy your batteries from a medical supply place\u2014they will scalp you! Go to<br \/>\na place such as Battery Outlet.\u00a0They will also do the replacement for you, but just make sure you watch them. Sadly, many people will try to cheat you nowadays.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How far an electric scooter or wheelchair will travel depends on these things:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">1. \u00a0If the batteries are charged fully.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">2.\u00a0The age of the batteries. A brand new battery will go much farther than<br \/>\na three-year old battery. If cared for properly, a battery starts losing<br \/>\ncapacity when it is three years old.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">3.\u00a0The combined weight of the person\/cargo using the equipment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">4.\u00a0Whether your equipment uses one or two batteries.\u00a0 I weigh 125 lbs. and if my two batteries are fully charged and fairly new, I can travel eighteen miles!\u00a0 My mini-wheelchair uses only one battery and on a full charge can travel about eight miles.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">5.\u00a0The type of terrain you are riding one.\u00a0Rugged or hilly terrain requires more energy than level, smooth surfaces.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 9, 2012 Are you getting at least three years life from your 12-volt gel batteries? You should be.\u00a0 It\u2019s bad enough that power chairs and electric scooters are so expensive, but when you have to start replacing parts to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/?p=89\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[44,115,127,164,169,361],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disability-equipment","tag-12-volt-gel-batteries-battery-life","tag-disabilities-ms","tag-electric-scooter","tag-living-with-ms","tag-managing-ms","tag-power-wheelchairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debbiepetrina.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}