Inverter help needed

Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
While away we went to a botanical garden and so Liz could enjoy it I took the scoot, the access was as usual pretty crap, but I carried on and the lowered kerb stopped it dead, the whole thing died so after a few times of switching it off it eventually came back to life, so we carried on and it seemed okay but after a while, it stopped dead again and then again so I looked at the battery gauge and it was in the red so I decided to go back the van, and it cut out so many times on the way and I had to remover and replace the battery each time, so I got off and folded it up and just dragged it, I chucked it in the van and didn't bother with it until today having decided to sell it, so I had it on charge for two days and I got it out of the van today in order to give it a bit of a clean as it has managed to get dirty, but I thought lets just give it a try on our road which is quite steep and very rough I went 0.3 miles up and then back down, it also tackled out short but steep drive, so I put it back in the van as is and popped it back on charge, now I don't know what to do.

Does any of the above mean anything?
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
We did get about a bit though

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wildebus

Forum Member
Pudsey Bear said:
While away we went to a botanical garden and so Liz could enjoy it I took the scoot, the access was as usual pretty crap, but I carried on and the lowered kerb stopped it dead, the whole thing died so after a few times of switching it off it eventually came back to life, so we carried on and it seemed okay but after a while, it stopped dead again and then again so I looked at the battery gauge and it was in the red so I decided to go back the van, and it cut out so many times on the way and I had to remover and replace the battery each time, so I got off and folded it up and just dragged it, I chucked it in the van and didn't bother with it until today having decided to sell it, so I had it on charge for two days and I got it out of the van today in order to give it a bit of a clean as it has managed to get dirty, but I thought lets just give it a try on our road which is quite steep and very rough I went 0.3 miles up and then back down, it also tackled out short but steep drive, so I put it back in the van as is and popped it back on charge, now I don't know what to do.

Does any of the above mean anything?
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I know nothing about Electric Scooters so the following may be totally wrong.....

I think yours is running a Lead Acid battery? Is that right? If so, The battery voltage will drop as the charge is used up and I would have thought the scooter - if it is a problem of the battery dying - would have got slower and slower rather than just stopping dead? and switching on and off a few times wouldn't have any effect. If the above is right, could the problem be bad connection/faulty control board/switch, etc rather than with the battery? maybe something that goes open-circuit when it gets hot and then when things cool a little, makes connection again (hence why off and on a few times may appear to fix it?)
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
wildebus said:
I know nothing about Electric Scooters so the following may be totally wrong.....

I think yours is running a Lead Acid battery? Is that right? If so, The battery voltage will drop as the charge is used up and I would have thought the scooter - if it is a problem of the battery dying - would have got slower and slower rather than just stopping dead? and switching on and off a few times wouldn't have any effect. If the above is right, could the problem be bad connection/faulty control board/switch, etc rather than with the battery? maybe something that goes open-circuit when it gets hot and then when things cool a little, makes connection again (hence why off and on a few times may appear to fix it?)
Click to expand...
Possibly I suppose but its a Li battery.
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
Ha Ha! just what you need on a mobility scooter, although it does have a display it's hard to see.

Could it just be bad battery management by the previous owner? and can I do anything about it?
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
I may have asked this, but is it possible to cut out the inverter and charge directly from the leisure or starter battery? IE 12v to 24v it seems (to me) inefficient to go up to 240v only to come back down and seems to put an extra load on the battery supplying the inverter.
 
Nabsim

Nabsim

Forum Member
Definitely something not right if you can get up dropped kerbs, I can ‘bounce’ mine up normal kerbs. Battery’s are frequently in poor condition on second hand mobility scooters which is why I said to allow for buying new battery’s in an earlier post.
I have a 12V charger for my scooter in the van but I found it seemed to take longer than using the 300W inverter and the mains charger. As mine takes a long time to recharge though it could be there is no difference.
I bought my 12V charger online from a shop that sells all sorts of mobility stuff but don’t recall the name. Should be plenty around if you have a Google.
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
Nabsim said:
Definitely something not right if you can get up dropped kerbs, I can ‘bounce’ mine up normal kerbs. Battery’s are frequently in poor condition on second hand mobility scooters which is why I said to allow for buying new battery’s in an earlier post.
I have a 12V charger for my scooter in the van but I found it seemed to take longer than using the 300W inverter and the mains charger. As mine takes a long time to recharge though it could be there is no difference.
I bought my 12V charger online from a shop that sells all sorts of mobility stuff but don’t recall the name. Should be plenty around if you have a Google.
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the kerb was about 1-2'' high and it has very small wheels so I should have just stopped and lifted it up, I've managed others okay and I told them about it.

As for the battery, I'm going to try fully charging and fully discharging maybe 6 times to see if it helps, I might just suspend the driving wheels and put a clamp on the lever to make life easier and just sit and read a book with a timer going each time to see if it gets better, sing out if that is a bad idea.

I'd love a new battery, but best I've seen is £270, to much too invest for me, and I'll hang back on the 4amp charger until I get more info on the 12v direct to the scooter for now.

Doing another self build was briefly discussed this weekend, but looking at used L4 H2/3 prices then the prices of decent kit (I can't do basic and then be happy with it) kill the job, plus all the kneeling standing and bending would cripple me for good, shame as my last was a really good one.
 
Nabsim

Nabsim

Forum Member
Would you be better looking at cheap second hand but bigger mobility scooters and taking a trailer? Not ideal I know but you need something that will get you about
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
Nabsim said:
Would you be better looking at cheap second hand but bigger mobility scooters and taking a trailer? Not ideal I know but you need something that will get you about
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No, too much messing about I'd rather just not bother, nowhere to park one anyway.
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
I might consider a better quality proper folding one but it's have to go through a hab door and around 25-30kg so I'd have half a chance of lifting it.


Right back to charging, I (wrongly) though fully charging it then laying it on it's back and letting it run for a few hours might flatten it, I left it for three hours and the green LEDs are still lit :( :( and the diff is getting too hot to touch so I've turned it off.

Is there an easy way to discharge it that doesn't involve me riding it for ages as there is nowhere around here to ride round that long without being suicidal we do have a mall-type place but it is a tiled floor and the constant bump bump would be too much? there is still the possible issue of it leaving me stranded again if it repeats the sudden topping thing but I need to make sure this battery gets properly discharged and recharged properly to have nay confident in it.
 
Pudsey Bear

Pudsey Bear

Forum Member
After a couple of trips away I decided that although the scooter was great when I could actually use it, I didn't actually use it that often, the charging without going into the methods suggested was a royal pain because of all the bending and twisting, so I bought a 4 wheeled walker with a seat and I've got more use out of that, and a the bonus of exercising a bit more and somewhere to sit when Liz want to wander around shops.

So I had it on eBay and it has just been collected.

So I'd just like to thank everyone who made suggestions, I may get another if/when my mobility deteriorates more, but at least I know where there is good help should I need it.
 
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