Charging Batteries

4 posts / 0 new
Last post
OldGuy
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 4 months ago
Joined: Friday, October 3, 2008 - 06:34
Points: 28
Charging Batteries

My range kept decreasing. I assumed that it was the batteries. I was ready to either quit with electric, or put large wheel chair catteries in my S-750. Then my Qili charger that came with the scooter quit working. That was almost the final blow. I really did not want to start taking things apart and studying them. I just don't like electrical issues. BUT! I pulled the battery pack out and took the case off. I had a couple old 12v phone charger transformers(they actually put out 13 volts.) lying around. I put red and black alligator clips on them after testing the output to be certain the colors matched those of a big charger that I have for the cars. The phone chargers put out 500 milliamps and 350 milliamps. I charged the batteries separately with those, switching them durring charging to get a near balanced charge. It isn't ideal, but it worked!

My scooter went twice as far as it had been going. Apparently, the Qili charger had not been doing a good job of charging the batteries for some time. Maybe it was never right.

NOW! How long can I leave a 500 milliamp charger and a 350 milliamp charger on without damaging the batteries?

What is the best cheapest charger I can buy that will do the job right and last a lot longer than a year? I only charged my batteries and average of maybe 2-3 times a week. I did not ride the scooter more than 150 times in a year.

Can I put two 12v 20-25 amp wheelchair batteries on my scooter without changing the controler? I understand the difference between series and paralell, so hooking the batteries up is not a problem. Is the amp rating of the controler related to the amps that the motor draws, or the amps that the batteries can deliver? I suspect it is the draw of the motor, but I'm not certain. Locically, my Honda has a 10 amp battery, but small lights are on 5 and 10 amp circuits.

OldGuy
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 4 months ago
Joined: Friday, October 3, 2008 - 06:34
Points: 28
Re: Charging Batteries

I forgot. If I put larger batteries on the scooter, can I still charge through the scooter's charging port without changing anything?

www.scooterbatt...
www.scooterbatteries.net's picture
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 4 months ago
Joined: Sunday, November 15, 2009 - 17:58
Points: 8
Re: Charging Batteries

Yes you can put larger batteries in the scooter. As long as they are 12 volts, you are only limited by the physical space available. You can also use any 12 volt charger, as long as it is wired properly. Most 24 volt chargers are at least two stage chargers, in that they charge the battery until it is full and then go into a very low maintenance charge. When people ask me where to get chargers for their scooters, I always direct them to this site: http://tncscooters.com/partsdb.php?type=ES

You will notice that that they seem to have almost every type of 24, 36 and 48 volt charger there and every charging plug configuration. Great prices too.

mf70
Offline
Last seen: 6 years 2 months ago
Joined: Friday, December 1, 2006 - 09:01
Points: 712
Re: Charging Batteries

I'm happy with my Vector (now Black and Decker) 2/6/10A chargers (2+ years of daily use). They have digital voltage or amp readouts. As you discovered, charging the batteries directly avoids the issues produced by the series configuration. Charging in parallel aslo avoids any mis-matching if two individual chargers were used. It's pretty easy to wire up a series/parallel plug so you can just switch the plug to get the fully charged pack wired in series to run.

Current ratings of the battery is actually Amp-hours, not current amps. Bigger is better, if they fit. Any Lead-acid battery will put out enough to do small scale welding. Current is limited by either the controller or the motor or both.

Log in or register to post comments


Who's online

There are currently 0 users online.

Who's new

  • xovacharging
  • stuuno
  • marce002
  • Heiwarsot
  • headsupcorporation

Support V is for Voltage