Charging problem, mobility scooter.

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davy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:44 pm
Location: Belfast

Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby davy » Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:21 pm

I have an Invacare "Comet", second hand,which I've had for about 6 months.
I use it's own charger, successfully until vey lately.
Occasionally, all lights on the charger will flash off and on, at about 1 second intervals, accompanied by what sounds like a solenoid click from within.
Sometimes, simply unplugging and reconnecting has cured the prob, but recently nothing seems to do the trick.
Last time I left it off for some hours, and it behaved perfectly on next trying.
I think the whole set up is only about a year or so old, and I have never fully discharged the batteries. Longest mileage between charges would be about 10 miles, and the scooter seems to perform perfectly.
Anyone got any ideas about fault, or better still, cure, please.
Cheers, Davy.

glyndwr1998
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:34 pm

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby glyndwr1998 » Fri Feb 14, 2014 1:16 pm

Hi Davy,

My son used to have a invacare spectra plus until last week, and i encountered the same issue as you on a few occaisions.

In our case it was the batteries that were giving abit of an issue, they were changed by our local authaurity wheelchair service and the problem went away.
When the batteries were examined, they werent totally useless but were starting to bulge, so they were not far off being totally worn beyond realistic use. :!:

Hope this helps alittle.

Best regards, Anthony.

davy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:44 pm
Location: Belfast

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby davy » Fri Feb 14, 2014 8:08 pm

Thanks Anthony, must admit.I haven't even looked at them yet!

davy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:44 pm
Location: Belfast

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby davy » Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:55 pm

Update on my charging problem.
I grudgingly bought 2 new 80aH batteries, but the damn charger STILL occasionally flashes and ticks.
Other times it behaves impeccably.
Any other ideas, or do I now need to think about changing the charger too?
(This was Invacare's suggestion, but it sounded a bit half-hearted).

glyndwr1998
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:34 pm

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby glyndwr1998 » Thu Feb 27, 2014 10:13 am

davy wrote:Update on my charging problem.
I grudgingly bought 2 new 80aH batteries, but the damn charger STILL occasionally flashes and ticks.
Other times it behaves impeccably.
Any other ideas, or do I now need to think about changing the charger too?
(This was Invacare's suggestion, but it sounded a bit half-hearted).


Hi Davy,

Sorry to hear your still having problems. I'm wondering is there a local invacare specialist locally that could loan or swap the chargers for a test period to rule that out. I have a charger you could borrow, where are you located?

Additionally, on the batteries, I had to call out our local authority repair specialists 2 weeks ago as our overhead hoist wouldn't work, there are a pair of batteries in the unit and 1 had gone bad. They changed the batteries and went away.
Had to call them back 2 days later as the same returned.
It turns out one of the batteries they supplied as NEW was also faulty.
I was told that they are sitting on a shelf for some time before they are called upon, and some deteriate whilst on the shelf.
So, one new battery was faulty as well.

Is there a way you can test both the new batteries that are now fitted to your scooter.
Charge them, and put a voltage test on them, to see if they end the charge and hold the same voltage.

Only a thought.

Anthony

glyndwr1998
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:34 pm

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby glyndwr1998 » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:20 am

One thing to try,

Remove both batteries, measure the voltage on each battery individually,

Charge them both individually with a 12v car charger.

Measure the voltage individually, they should read the same voltage, ie 12.5v.

Fit both batteries back into the scooter, check the voltage when fitted as a pair, they should now read 25v as a paired unit.
If they don't, you may have a problem with the battery connecting cable that joins both batteries together.

If they do read 25v (ie, 2x 12.5) then use the scooter and recharge using the invacare 24v charger.

All I can think without seeing it is that there may be a battery imbalance and the maybe charger doesn't like what it's seeing.
Like, if one of the batteries is low, I'm not sure but If I was where you are that is what I would do. Once you've proved the batteries are ok, then you have to look else where for the problem.

If the batteries are proven ok, then check all the wiring on the scooter for the charge process for defects, loose connections etc...

On my sons wheelchair, the charger locates into the joystick attendant control unit, jst check all connections are good tight, not loose, if all that's good and the batteries good then look at the charger.

davy
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 6:44 pm
Location: Belfast

Re: Charging problem, mobility scooter.

Postby davy » Thu Feb 27, 2014 5:35 pm

Thanks to both of the above for the suggestions, I will certainly check them out.
The lousy weather prevents at present, but I'll get me wee multimeter out shortly.
Thanks for the offer, but I'm in Belfast, so prob not practicable!
Post later.


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