How To Choose The Right Electric Wheelchair Battery

As every user of an electric wheelchair must well be aware of; there is need to use the electric wheelchair battery very carefully because if not used properly an electric wheelchair battery can easily end up having a very short life. In addition, wrong use of the battery can lead to invalidation of the battery’s warranty. It is therefore necessary to learn how to keep the electric wheelchair battery properly charged and stored safely so that there is less need to replace it with a costly replacement battery.

Two Types

Before understanding how to maintain the electric wheelchair battery it is necessary to realize that there are two main types of such batteries. Firstly, there is the Sealed Lead Acid battery or SLA and secondly, there is the GEL mobility scooter battery.

In the case of an SLA electric wheelchair battery you must first of all give it a charge of sixteen hours and in case the battery does not get fully charged it will then be necessary to use the battery and recharge it for at least ten more charges before it is able to reach its maximum capacity. One other important factor that needs to be taken into account whilst using your electric wheelchair battery is to remember that you should never allow the battery to completely discharge it. Doing so will invalidate your insurance and also lead to shorter battery life.

Another important consideration with regard to proper use of your electric wheelchair battery is that you need to be especially careful about the kind of battery charger you use for charging it. It is quite unwise to use an SLA battery charger to charge up a GEL battery because it would mean damaging the GEL battery and perhaps even causing it to explode.

You will also need to ensure that the battery charger you use for charging your electric wheelchair battery is of the proper capacity which means that the amperage of the battery charger must be between ten and twenty percent. This in turn means using a battery charger of between four and eight amperes when charging an electric wheelchair battery of forty amperes.

There are also many who need to use commercial wheelchair lifts and are willing to pay the more than ten thousand dollar price tag to solve their mobility problems.

Finally, before using an electric wheelchair battery you also need to ensure that you follow the instructions given by manufacturers to the T, and in case of any doubts you can always contact the dealer for more advice and clarifications.