12AH vs 14AH vs 18AH

2 posts / 0 new
Last post
GForce
Offline
Last seen: 14 years 8 months ago
Joined: Saturday, March 27, 2010 - 15:54
Points: 6
12AH vs 14AH vs 18AH

Hi there,

Wasn't quite sure where to post this, new to the site, but figured as I have what I would consider a small scooter I'd post my question here.

Basically put, I baught a used scooter, 4x12voltx12AH-500watt.
It worked great for a few weeks, this morning, went into the garage to head off to work and I smelled rotten eggs, tried to take off with the scooter, got absolutely nothing!
So I put the bike back up on it's centre stand and twisted the throttle. The tire started to spin about 3 rotations per minute studdering and the battery meter read DEAD!
Not impressed. So this evening I took apart the battery case to find my batteries were all melted. Each of the 4 batteries was deforemed, warped, bulged. Brutal!

Now not quite sure exactly why it happened. But I have a few theories. 1. It started with previous owner, I killed them totally. 2. Charging it right after a 20-30 minute ride. 3.I have a wire behind my headlight, not sure exactly what it does but when it is connected the bike will only do 20km/h. When I disconnect it, I get up to 35-38km/h. So obviously as I like speed, at least faster than crawling, I have been riding with the wire unplugged. Never had a problem until this morning.

So now I need some replacement batteries. I am curious if it is due to the wire being unplugged, lets call it my limiter wire, then is there any way I can prevent this from happening with the new batteries?

Also with the new batteries, I found 12volt, 12ah batteries which will fit in my battery case, but I also found 12vold 14ah, as well as 12volt 18ah batteries that all match the measurements of the old batteries(before deforming).

I am curious as to what I should put in? Should I stick with what was there and replace them with 12volt 12ah batteries, or would I receive either more speed/distance with using 14ah or 18ah batteries?

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Gavin

Here's the old batteries for those curious as to how bad they got.

Batteries.jpg

robert93
robert93's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 1 month ago
Joined: Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 12:28
Points: 240
Re: 12AH vs 14AH vs 18AH

Wow, that's some nasty meltage!! You wont gain more speed by replacing the 4 batteries with another 4, voltage will be the same, but, better batteries may give you better performance in both Length of run and power. Main thing is , to get batteries specifically designed for Electric Vehicles so they can take the abuse they will get under normal use. (some batteries despite the same V and Ah ratings are designed for low current draw over extended times, rather than a high current draw for a shorter time) Higher Ah ratings translates to longer distance travelled. I'm not too sure I'd trust that charger either, even if there was a problem with the batteries to start with.

Log in or register to post comments


Who's online

There are currently 0 users online.

Who's new

  • eric01
  • Norberto
  • sarim
  • Edd
  • OlaOst

Support V is for Voltage