Question About ECV Batteries

[clkelley]

How long do ECV Batteries last on average??

I'm pretty sure hubbies batteries are pushing 5 years old.

He only uses the ECV for DisneyWorld trips, and for things like when we went to a Braves game at Turner Field.

In previous trips, the ECV ran great all day long and didn't show any signs of wearing out. We plugged it in each night and went strong every day.

This trip he would run out of juice about 3pm and would have to start finding places to plug in.

I'm hoping it's just a battery memory problem. Or do ECV batteries have that problem??

We're planning on one day this week propping up the back wheels and letting it run until it is totally dead, dead, and then charging it up for about 48 hours.

I'm also tempted to take it with me in December on my solo trip and ride it around just to see if that fixes the problem or we really need new batteries. I don't need the ECV, but I would hate for him to have even more battery problems on his next trip.

Thanks for the help.

Carol

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know for sure if ecv batteries work the same way as power wheelchairs, but my educated guess is that they probably do.
My DD's power wheelchair had some problems recently, which we thought were maybe battery related since she still had her original batteries and the wheelchair is 4 years old. They had us fully charge it and then the wheelchair tech put a meter on it and checked the amount of power that was in the batteries. The batteries actually held as good a charge as a new pair. We were told that's kind of unusual for wheelchair batteries.
When they checked it out, the problem was actually with the motor, not the battery. If we had just replaced the battery, we would have wasted quite a bit of money and not have fixed the problem.
So, I'd suggest you get the battery checked before replacing it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I just had to replace one of the two batteries in my ECV. I was told they will normally last between one and four years. Mine is a Ranger Solo and uses two "U-1" 12 volt, deep cycle gel (non-spill) batteries which weigh 24 pounds each. This particular battery was a little over a year old, and cost $80 for a replacement.

 

[clkelley]

Well, I found out for sure it is not a memory problem. Only NICAD batteries have a memory problem.

I'll be camping at Ft. Wilderness for my December trip and plan on taking the scooter with me to get around Ft. Wilderness so I'll see then if it was just a fluke on that trip.

Hopefully hubby will have his knee replaced and have gastric bypass before his next trip (10/06) and will no longer need the ECV at WDW!!!

If that is the case, I'll just make sure it is all cleaned up, running good, and has new batteries when dad and/or mom decide they need it back!

Carol

 

[seashoreCM]

Gel batteries I take it are actually lead acid batteries. I have always had problems with my car battery after about 4 years, so if the battery is 4 years old, you should expect it won't run the wheelchair as many hundreds of yards between charges as it did when new.

I am also guessing that, even through a battery tester will show a battery at full strength just after charging, how many minutes of usage you get can still be somewhat less for an older battery.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Never use a wheelchair and its battery to jump start a car, you could actually have the battery explode.

 

[SueM in MN]

Here's a good general info page about wheelchair/ecv batteries.
And
this article is pretty good too.
From what I have been told and read, you don't want to completely discharge the batteries dead. They have to have at least a little charge left in them or they will not begin to charge.
Also, from what the wheelchair tech who checked my DD's wheelchair's said, if it tests full charge, it should work pretty much the same as new. We usually let the batteries discharge about 30% berfore re-charging. You don't want to keep re-charging a battery that has just been discharged a tiny bit. Each time you do that is one cycle and you only have so many cycles per the lifetime of the battery.