Mobility Batteries & Extensions ?

EycplUK

Hope this is in right place , if not please move


Could anyone tell me why an Extension lead cannot be used for charging Mobility Scooter batteries ?
Reason we ask is that a purchase of one of these would mean either A) completely re-arranging the bedroom to give access to wall socket or moving an existing wall socket about 4 feet along a wall to give access for charging ! ( hope that made sense )
All the owner manuals say not to use extension cables but do not actually say why not !
Hope someone can explain
Regards

Ruski

Can you link to the instructions somewhere? Or post a photo of them?
Sounds like a ploy to get you to buy something else from them - I can't really think of any reason not to use an extension lead....

Russ

Quiet_Spark

As above, my wife charges her scooter using a 10 metre extension lead in the garage without any issues at all (it's no different to charging a car battery).

greyteam1959

The only problem I could see with using an extension lead is overheating of the lead.
Particularly if the extension lead is still coiled up.
Maybe thats the reason ???

paddyrg

Not all extension leads (cheap ones especially) will handle the current draw without heating up, or maybe they're just issuing generic advice as some people will try to daisy-chain 4-way extensions etc., and that's poor form. for sure.

I would suggest you get a good quality (ie rated 13A) extension cable and keep the cable run as short as is convenient, indoors etc. You should be fine. There is no specific reason why the charger itself should not sit at the end of an extension as long as the extension and socket on the other end are not being overloaded.

martinthebandit

Most mobility scooter and wheelchair charger leads are basically the same as electric kettle leads can you not buy a longer one?

Quiet_Spark

mervyn11 wrote: »

The only problem I could see with using an extension lead is overheating of the lead.
Particularly if the extension lead is still coiled up.
Maybe thats the reason ???

The charger for the wifes one draws less than 100W in use and I would imagine the fast charger (which charges in half the time) pulls no more than 200W which is less than 1A.

System

Not all extension leads (cheap ones especially) will handle the current draw without heating up

If that is the case then I would be worried about a scooter battery pulling the sort of current (>10A) that would cause an extension lead to overheat.

rustyboy21

Here is an installer guide to pride mobility scooters. It says you cant use them, but not why.
http://www.pridemobility.com/pdf/Owners_Manuals/INTL_Scooter/uk/UK_Libre_om.pdf
it could have something to do with the type of battery involved. The chargers seem to have a cooling fan built into them, could be something to do with that.


Some one else on a thread linked up the following from amazon, it that is any good to you?


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterplug-Outdoor-Power-Switched-Socket/dp/B004KL0A8W/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1401635831&sr=8-8&keywords=outdoor+plug+extension

Nilrem

I would imagine the problem would be with people running extension cables outside to charge them, or using extension cables wound on a reel (which usually has a fairly major effect on the safe maximum wattage that can be used).
Or possibly the booklet is generic to all countries that speak English, and the issue could be something like the potential lack of an earth cable/pin on some extension leads, IIRC a lot of scooter chargers have a metal casing, which usually means they need to have a functional earth in case anything goes wrong, from memory a lot of U.S. cables may well lack that. and some countries have an utterly stupid earthing system that relies on a small metal plate on both the socket and plug (not a pin like live/neutral) making contact, which means you can have power but no functional earth even when both sides have the earth plate.

The kind of battery used shouldn't affect the safety of an extension cable, especially as most scooters tend to use sealed, zero maintenance batteries these days due to the risk of spillage with old fashioned lead acid ones*, so risks of explosive gasses being given off are low (and it's unlikely the risk involved would increase much/at all if a safe extension cable was used, than if it was directly connected to the wall).
Remember it's the charger itself that has to be varied with the battery type, the use of an extension cable wouldn't make any difference.

I've used extension cables with loads of different scooter chargers, the trick is to make sure it's on an RCD, that the extension cable is rated appropriately for the charger (if the charger says it's got a 3amp fuse, use a similar or higher rated extension), and that the cable is not left in such a way that it risks tripping someone.


*I remember some of the old "back of the car" type portable 3 wheelers having lead acid batteries, which was pretty insane given the inherent instability of the scooter design (my mum was given one as a spare, and it tipped over if you looked at it wrong).

EycplUK

Some good useful information , in the OM all it says is .......


PROHIBITED! Never use an extension lead to plug in your battery charger. Plug the charger


directly into a properly wired standard electrical outlet.

Not a lot of use if it don't say why not !
Thanks All for the replies
Regards