battery longevity response

[Cobb]

I cant find the original thread, so thought maybe here is a good spot to post my response.

I use to be an assistant rehab engineeer and an electric wheelchair user.

Electric mobility devices use deep cycle 12 volt batteries, 2 hooked in series for 24 volts. They offer many different flavors, agm, sealed, wet or flooded cells.

Anyway, there is or was an on going debate which way was better to care for it. Should you run it down, then recharge it or just charge it daily as the charger is automatic.

Anyway, charging daily made the batteries last longer, however when the range is reduces due to aging, it was a surprise to those who charge daily vs those who charge when its low.

If you ran it down to roughly 23 volts or when most wheelchairs read low and recharged it rather that was daily or weekly, you could see the meter reading lower than it normally would and know to charge more frequency and to save up for some new batteries.

Those who charged daily got an unsuspecting drop and very reduced range of travel when it was time to replace them amost with no notice.

When the charge was low or range was reduced it was always the second battery that was bringing the system down or unbalanced. Some guys would rotate batteries to help avoid that and when purchase new ones make sure they are sequential of the lot they purchased from the dealer.

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Insights use NiMh (Nickle-metal-hydride) which is a completely different chemistry. Your results with lead-acid batteries don't apply to these. For example, you can drain a Nimh battery down to completely empty without damaging it (if you drain more than one cell, you need to do it slowly to keep from reversing one).

Originally Posted by Cobb

I cant find the original thread, so thought maybe here is a good spot to post my response.

I use to be an assistant rehab engineeer and an electric wheelchair user.

Electric mobility devices use deep cycle 12 volt batteries, 2 hooked in series for 24 volts. They offer many different flavors, agm, sealed, wet or flooded cells.

Anyway, there is or was an on going debate which way was better to care for it. Should you run it down, then recharge it or just charge it daily as the charger is automatic.

Anyway, charging daily made the batteries last longer, however when the range is reduces due to aging, it was a surprise to those who charge daily vs those who charge when its low.

If you ran it down to roughly 23 volts or when most wheelchairs read low and recharged it rather that was daily or weekly, you could see the meter reading lower than it normally would and know to charge more frequency and to save up for some new batteries.

Those who charged daily got an unsuspecting drop and very reduced range of travel when it was time to replace them amost with no notice.

When the charge was low or range was reduced it was always the second battery that was bringing the system down or unbalanced. Some guys would rotate batteries to help avoid that and when purchase new ones make sure they are sequential of the lot they purchased from the dealer.