Electric Wheelchair Battery

Electric Wheelchair Battery

How do I care for my electric wheelchair battery?

You depend upon your electric wheelchair in your daily life, so you also depend upon your electric wheelchair battery, even if you don't think about it much. Let us help you get the most out of your battery and maximize its power delivery and lifespan with a few simple tips.

Breaking In New Batteries

Like batteries in many other electronic devices, your wheelchair batteries require a period of special attention when they are new. Start your battery's life off right by fully charging it before you use it in your wheelchair for the first time. As you begin to use your battery, go easy on it by not discharging it too much for the first ten charge cycles. Breaking in your new battery in this way will extend its lifespan and give you more wheelchair power per charge.

Protocol for Discharging and Recharging Wheelchair Batteries

You should recharge your battery each night. It is best to discharge the battery only partially before you recharge it. A common idea with batteries is that you need to discharge them fully before recharging; while this is true for some types of batteries such as those in laptops, it is not true for wheelchair batteries. In fact, fully discharging a deep-cycle battery can damage it irreparably. Charging your battery every day after an only partial discharge will extend the life of your battery.

While it is best to charge batteries after only a partial discharge, it is not a good idea to charge your battery in small bursts during the day. When it charges, your wheelchair battery goes through a specific charging cycle. Plugging it in for only a short period of time disturbs this cycle and harms your battery. It's best to charge batteries overnight.

You should also avoid removing your electric wheelchair battery from the charger before it is fully charged. This is sometimes called an "undercharge," and it is detrimental to the battery's lifespan. Allow your battery to charge fully before using your electric wheelchair.