Have you drained an ECV battery?

[Buckimion]

I'm looking for stories from people who completely or near completely drained their ECV batteries touring the parks after a full night's charge. Interested in finding out model, park and rental companies if applicable.

 

[peemagg]

I have, but it was on my personal scooter and the batteries were old. I never have any other time in the parks. My scooter takes 12volt 18amp batteries (2). With that size battery that is in good condition, you should be fine all day in the parks.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I did, but it was at Disneyland. I had to keep recharging.

But when I got home they tested the batteries and they were fine. Then I drove it for 15 minutes and drained the batteries.

It turned out that the brakes had failed and were engaged at all times. The ECV had enough power to drive and overcome the brakes, but it really put a tremendous load on the batteries.

Luckily they were able to replace the brakes under warranty, and also replaced the batteries due to their potential damage.

 

[cynzilla]

I did on one of my trips to WDW. I had rented from Walker and noticed the needle going into the red. I had found an outlet to charge in Animal Kingdom, Dinoland and I called the company. They had a service rep at the front gates of AK within the hour with a new scooter and charger for me no problem!

May I ask are you asking to find out who was reliable, if scooters loose their charge and where to recharge, or for some other reason....

I noticed that the HEAVY DUTY scooters last much longer (battery life) than the regular scooters!

 

[Buckimion]

May I ask are you asking to find out who was reliable, if scooters loose their charge and where to recharge, or for some other reason....

I'm mostly curious if the smaller (aka Go Go) scooters have a reputation for dying out during a particularly long day as I have no real clue as to how many miles an average ECV runs under normal park days. I had a practically antique Struck Mini Beep back in 2005 that operated off of a single U-1 battery that could get through a day at Disneyland but would creep home at the end of the day. My next trip to WDW includes a FULL DHS day followed with MNSSHP and I'm worried that even a dual-battery small ECV isn't going to cut it.

Built like a 50's Buick

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You are not really going to be able to tell, by the needle, if the batteries are actually going bad. I had noticed, over the past few weeks, that my ECV was not working normally, so Tuesday I took it in. They tested the batteries and both, which I had been using for just over a year, were going bad. So they replaced both.

I knew I had to get it checked anyway as I'm going to Disneyland in a few weeks.

 

[peemagg]

I use a Pride Go-Go scooter, but the one that I use is the Elite Traveler model. If you use just the Go-Go model, it will have smaller batteries that may not last threw a whole day in the parks. With the Elite Traveler model, it has the larger, longer lasting batteries, but as someone said the HD versions tend to have a larger battery for longer life.

Cheshire is right about not knowing by looking at the dial that the battery is going bad. On our last trip my batteries died on me and the needle was fine and we had fully charged it each night. I ended up getting new batteries while down there. Lesson learned is that I will have mine checked from now on before a big trip to be sure that the batteries is fine. I guess I should have expected it, since the batteries were 3 years old.

They just don't make things to last like they used to. LOL!

 

[Buckimion]

Dial? Needle? What are those? (kidding)

 

[Escape2Disney]

I have an off-brand scooter that's very similar to the Elite Traveler. It was very reliable for quite a while. Right before a DLR trip, I had the batteries checked. What I didn't expect was an issue with the airlines. Apparently they left the scooter on the tarmac while everyone loaded. Since it was a hot day, it melted the batteries. I didn't know this until we got home a week later. Ironically it still ran, though it didn't have the stamina it had before the trip. No matter how often I charged, it would only last around 4 hours.

Looking back, I should have found a place to purchase new batteries while we were there!

 

[Talking Hands]

I have with my personal scooter and with my power wheelchair. Old batteries. We get our batteries at Batteries Plus. Less expensive than the medical supply place but we do have to install them ourselves.

 

[POOHsie]

My first scooter, the Go-Go Ultra, had two 12V 12 AH batteries. For a big scooter trip, like visiting Walt Disney World, I would get brand-new batteries. These batteries worked fine, except for at Epcot. They would not last all day and evening. I recharged for a few hours and it was not fun sitting around waiting. Next visit, with this same scooter, I bought a second battery box and kept it waiting in the car in the parking lot and swapped it out at a certain time. A few more visits, I purchased a bigger scooter with two U-1 batteries. Unless there is part failure somewhere, this scooter will go all day and night, no problem.

One thing, though. I ALWAYS replace the batteries at the one-year point or less, even if they seem OK. They will poop out very quickly when they are a year old and you may get stuck somewhere (this is another story).

 

[I Love Pluto]

We have a Pride GoGo with the smaller battery pack. Our batteries lasted from morning until night. The batteries are good for 10 hours - we got about 15 hours from them - several times. Don't forget - your scooter is turned off during an attraction, so that time doesn't count toward scooter usage.