Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

regards
--
Tim Lamb

Tim Lamb wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Yes, gel electrolyte battery chargers have better output voltage and
current control than normal chargers.

For cheapness, Maplin do a couple of chargers suitable for gel
electrolyte lead acid batteries.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/power/batter...acid-batteries

You may need to sort out a connector to match the one on the chair.

Check the voltage used on the chair, too, as I think some of them are 24
volt, not 12.
--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In message , John Williamson
writes
Tim Lamb wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Yes, gel electrolyte battery chargers have better output voltage and
current control than normal chargers.

For cheapness, Maplin do a couple of chargers suitable for gel
electrolyte lead acid batteries.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/power/batter...acid-batteries

You may need to sort out a connector to match the one on the chair.

Check the voltage used on the chair, too, as I think some of them are
24 volt, not 12.

Ah! This particular battery is 12V 20Ah so perhaps I am being too
parsimonious:-)

regards

--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

Gel batteries require a theoretical constant voltage charge. They are not
tolerant of overcharging unlike a wet type.
However many modern chargers can do both - you just need to check the
spec. And make sure it does mention gel rather than sealed.

I'm not surprised an original dedicated charger costs much much more than
a generic suitable one. Exactly the same applies to laptops, etc.

--
*Geeks shall inherit the earth *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Ah! This particular battery is 12V 20Ah so perhaps I am being too
parsimonious:-)

A charger to do an overnight charge for a 20 Ah battery should be
available for 20 quid or less. Assuming you can get a suitable connector.

--
*Indian Driver - Smoke signals only*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Jul 29, 11:13*am, Tim Lamb wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

regards

Gel cells must be charged at lower voltage, IIRC 13.6v max (per 6
cells). They dont survive faster chargeing the way wet cells do.


NT

On Jul 29, 11:13*am, Tim Lamb wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Yes! Voltage is different. This matters, otherwise you'll reduce the
lifetime of your gel batteries.

Unfortunately the cheap wall-wart gel chargers are too low output
current to charge a wheelchair in a useful time. Best approach is to
either build (DIY or kit, chipsets are easy and widespread) or find a
hefty car charger and then play with the output regulation.

On 29/07/2011 12:57, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
Tim wrote:
Is there any essential difference in charger specification for gel
batteries fitted to motorised wheelchairs as opposed to conventional
lead acid?

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

Gel batteries require a theoretical constant voltage charge. They are not
tolerant of overcharging unlike a wet type.

Ideally all lead acid batteries require constant voltage charging. Gel
batteries are just more sensitive to gassing and subsequent loss of
electrolyte through "over" or prolonged charging.

On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:13:54 +0100, Tim Lamb
wrote:

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

Most wheelchairs use two batteries in series to give 24V. 24V sealed
lead acid chargers are less common and hence more expensive. The
wheelchair ones tend to be quite complex as well.

In message , Peter Parry
writes
On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:13:54 +0100, Tim Lamb
wrote:

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

Most wheelchairs use two batteries in series to give 24V. 24V sealed
lead acid chargers are less common and hence more expensive. The
wheelchair ones tend to be quite complex as well.

OK chaps. I think I have got the picture.

This is actually a *clip on* 12V motorised wheel fitted to a standard
chair.

The Battery is horizontal in use so it is certainly sealed. I am not
100% sure about the gel bit.

I have found an outlet supplying batteries and chargers for golf
trollies which comes at £35.00 and claims to be suitable for GEL and AGM
whatever that is. The connector is *Torberry* which should fit.

The purpose is to lend the kit to a friend. I know I should be creating
one from dead microwave ovens etc. but life is currently too short:-)

regards


--
Tim Lamb

"Tim Lamb" wrote in message
...
In message , Peter Parry
writes
On Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:13:54 +0100, Tim Lamb
wrote:

Charger from original suppliers is around £70.00 del. whereas there
appear to be chargers available on line for around £25.00.

Most wheelchairs use two batteries in series to give 24V. 24V sealed
lead acid chargers are less common and hence more expensive. The
wheelchair ones tend to be quite complex as well.

OK chaps. I think I have got the picture.

This is actually a *clip on* 12V motorised wheel fitted to a standard
chair.

The Battery is horizontal in use so it is certainly sealed. I am not 100%
sure about the gel bit.

I have found an outlet supplying batteries and chargers for golf trollies
which comes at £35.00 and claims to be suitable for GEL and AGM whatever
that is. The connector is *Torberry* which should fit.

snip
http://www.dcbattery.com/agmtech.html
Advanced Gas Mat - supposedly better than gel and takes normal lead acid
charge.

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article ,
David WE Roberts wrote:
Advanced Gas Mat - supposedly better than gel and takes normal lead acid
charge.

Developed in '85, yet still hardly common. The advantages are obviously
not killer ones.

--
*A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , David WE Roberts
writes
I have found an outlet supplying batteries and chargers for golf
trollies which comes at £35.00 and claims to be suitable for GEL and
AGM whatever that is. The connector is *Torberry* which should fit.

snip
http://www.dcbattery.com/agmtech.html
Advanced Gas Mat - supposedly better than gel and takes normal lead
acid charge.

Ah!

I hadn't come across those.

Major cock up on ordering the charger... Sage Pay took me through the
procedure for Barclaycard secure online purchase but, after entering my
password, appeared to lock me out with a *page unobtainable* message.

I assumed the order had not gone through and re-ordered using a
different card. You guessed it, two confirmation mails!

regards


--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Advanced Gas Mat - supposedly better than gel and takes normal lead
acid charge.

Ah!

I hadn't come across those.

Brand name Optima. Over hyped and over priced. They boast in their
advertising that they last longer than a standard battery, but only offer
a warranty poorer than many of those.

--
*Why do the two "sanction"s (noun and verb) mean opposites?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Ctek 3600 or MXS3.6 (replacement 2011 model).
Ctek 4300 or MXS4.3 (at a guess, similar 2011 model).

Amazon & Ebay list them, about 35-49 if I recall. Well regarded.

In article
,
js.b1 wrote:
Ctek 3600 or MXS3.6 (replacement 2011 model).
Ctek 4300 or MXS4.3 (at a guess, similar 2011 model).

Amazon & Ebay list them, about 35-49 if I recall. Well regarded.

Given that it's only a 20 Ah battery and likely just needs an overnight
charge, that's a lot of money.

--
*I have my own little world - but it's OK...they know me here*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article
,
js.b1 wrote:
Ctek 3600 or MXS3.6 (replacement 2011 model).
Ctek 4300 or MXS4.3 (at a guess, similar 2011 model).

Amazon & Ebay list them, about 35-49 if I recall. Well regarded.

Given that it's only a 20 Ah battery and likely just needs an overnight
charge, that's a lot of money.

Wheelchair = health budget, golf trolley = leisure/hobby. Both money no
object activities:-)

Battery charger on way at 35 plus del.

regards


--
Tim Lamb

In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:
Given that it's only a 20 Ah battery and likely just needs an overnight
charge, that's a lot of money.

Wheelchair = health budget, golf trolley = leisure/hobby. Both money no
object activities:-)

Oh indeed. Cars too, come to that. The lovely little Lidl/Aldi charger at
about 13 quid will cost you 3 times that from a car place. And a
'maintenance' only one - just a low current wall wart in essence - about
the same.

--
*Generally speaking, you aren't learning much if your lips are moving.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)"
saying something like:

The lovely little Lidl/Aldi charger at
about 13 quid will cost you 3 times that from a car place.

I must add another recommendation for the Lidl charger - one of mine
developed a worrying bulge and stopped working (I'd been sorely abusing
it). The kompernasse agent sent a mailing sticker and a week later I had
a brand-new replacement under warranty. I kept the croc-clips from the
old one as I quite like them.