In this blog, the team at Valen cover some critical points to consider when thinking of charging your mobility scooter or electric wheelchair batteries with your car charger.
Safety while charging your mobility scooter
Firstly, It can be EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to utilise a different battery charger to what your battery was supplied with.
Suppose you are looking to replace your battery charger. In that case, you should ensure a battery specialist has approved the replacement before using it.
Mobility Scooter batteries are designed to be charged by a multistage mobility scooter charger.
The battery technology in your mobility scooter or electric wheelchair will be paired by your mobility scooter specialist with a corresponding battery charger carrying the correct battery charger algorithm. Therefore, using a different charger could damage the batteries.
multistage Mobility scooter battery chargers
Mobility scooter battery chargers will usually be multistage to ensure that the batteries are safely charged and floated correctly. In addition, multistage chargers allow the batteries to be well maintained for the longest possible life.
Mobility batteries in series
Mobility scooters normally run on a 24V (2x 12V Batteries connected in series) battery system and have one charger input; this is opposed to car battery chargers which output 12V.
Each 12V battery in the mobility scooter would have to be charged individually as well as accessed directly in the mobility scooter, meaning in most cases, the seat and cover would need to be removed from the scooter to charge the batteries.
Mobility Scooter Connection Port
Battery chargers have a connection port relevant to their function. A mobility scooter battery charger generally comes supplied with an XLR or Cannon plug, which is matched to the socket on the mobility scooter.
Conclusion
You may be able to use a car battery charger depending on your battery and charger type. However, we do not recommend it unless you have had prior approval from your mobility scooter specialist.
Do you have more technical questions on batteries?
Need more clarity around your specific battery requirements? the Valen team are here to support you. With customer service being one of our core values, we go above and beyond for our clients.
Get in touch with the Valen Team Today!
