recharging wchair batteries

[irismarie]

Big row going on here.

1 should you do it regularly(me) or wait till the battery is really low and do one big swoop(S)

2 Do you need to have the wheelchair switched ON for the recharging to take place.

3 Am I just a girl?


Love to all and please resolve this problem. IT has made me cry. (Yes that means I AM only a girl)

 

[abbas child]

The batteries used here need to be kept very charged or it shortens their life, so every day is the way to go. The wheelchair is turned off.
Yes Iris you're a girl...who is right about this.
From one girl to another.
Ann

 

[peter57]

Iris,

Ann is right, right, right re the charging, the off and the girly thing.

From a bloke

Peter

 

[BarryG]

These are not nickel cadmium rechargeable flashlight batteries that work best when they are fully discharged before recharging, these are wet cell lead-acid batteries and one of the best ways to ruin any lead-acid battery in a wheelchair or an automobile or a golf cart or anything else is to not charge it regularly (every day). While the deep discharge batteries used in wheelchairs and golf carts are better at handling longer periods of discharge than most automobile batteries they will still last much longer if they are recharged every day. And yes, charging can and should be done with the wheelchair turned off.

I don't have a wheelchair (yet) but I do have 22 years experience of selling batteries and heavy duty truck and automotive parts and a 50+ year lifetime of tinkering with all things mechanical and electric so from this guy I say, you tell him what's what from me!

Barry

 

[irismarie]

Thank you. BUt I am really really a girl. I just used my shewee for the first time ever. I was determined to do it like a man if it is only once in my life so I placed the wheelchair against a wall, got myself balanced on two spread feet and my head against the wall, and my hand on the wheelchair (I am short) and holding the shewee in place peed for the first and probably only time in my life like a bloke. Amazing! SO EASY§§§§§§§§§§ GLad I got the extra long. I see now why it is important - so you dont get your feet wet. Never understood that before;-)

 

[irismarie]

SHould all the led lights be green. It was hooked up all last night and nothing changed, 2 red, 2 orange and 4 green.

I DO appreciate your knowledge and help

 

[vw-fl]

Hi IrisMarie.

When charging your wheelchair the wheelchair should be turned off. When you plug your wheelchair into the battery charger there should be an on switch on your battery charger.

Always waiting until the battery is very low before you charge them is not a good idea. It will shorten the life of the batteries.

No, all the led lights should not be green. From your description it appears that your chair's led should have 3 colors.
The LED lights indicate how much battery "charge" you have. The led colors: all 4 green led lights = fully charged; green led indicates good, orange = caution and red = warning/danger very low battery. As you use your wheelchair the LED lights will change declining from the highest green down to orange and then down to red. For example as you use up the battery charge you will no longer see any green lights, only orange and red. When the battery is very low you will not see any green or orange lights only red. We charge the wheelchair overnight when the LED reaches the highest orange light/bar (have had the same batteries for 5 years now) However, depending on how much you use your chair and how old your battery is you may want to charge it more often. If you do not use your wheelchair for any length of time you will still need to make sure it is kept charged on a regular basis or the batteries will die.

Did you receive an owner's manual with your wheelchair? If not you might want to call or email the manufacturer to send you the manual. You also might be able to get the manual from the manufacturers web site. We have found our manual to be an excellent resource for maintaining and troubleshooting.

Hope this is helpful.

By the way, I love reading your posts. You are such a sweet, endearing, funny woman.

Vicki
Husband DX 11/1997

 

[irismarie]

Thank you so very much for that, Vicki.........lots of love to you and yours

 

[pvale]

Yes, if you use the chair at all that day, charge the batteries at night. Proper sequence, turn off chair, plug in charger, turn on charger, and reverse in the morning. What brand of chair did you get?

Perry

 

[irismarie]

it is a vermerien Forest REmempber I did not have a huge choice - just what was covered by the state. I wanted one more importantly for outdoors. I must say the learning curve is harder than I expected. I espaecially hate ramps! Afraid of going over the edge - those wheels don't stay straight for two seconds!
thank you for your advice, dear Perry

 

[pvale]

I found it on the net. I must say, I do not have any experience with a rear drive chair. I would imagine that keeping the front castering wheels going straight would be a bit of a problem. Since my chair is a front drive chair, I must be careful with the rear caster wheels swinging around when I turn. You will have to practice with it, it takes a very fine touch on the joystick. Use the lower speeds until you get proficient with it. Good to see you getting the things you need to get around.

Perry

 

[irismarie]

I did not realise there WERE front and rear drives. You are right. It is a terrible job trying to keep those front wheels straight. And when I am trying to manoeuvre, everyone shouts, "keep the front wheels straight" as though I were not trying. It is a hard learning curve.Thank you for your interest and I welcome any advice. My toes are already smashed up;-)

 

[Al]

My drive wheels are in the center. I chose this model because the rear drive model got stuck in the snow the day I test drove them both.

AL.

 

[mare]

Al-

What the h*** were you doing driving in the snow?:shock:

It must be a Canadian thing!:lol:

 

[pvale]

I have a Invacare Pronto M51 chair that is mid-drive. It was given to me, and has a van seat on it. OT people who initially came to me thought I needed a fully bariatric chair. So they got me this Permobil front drive chair with everything movable and electric. My old chair was far more sure-footed than this new Permobil, it's just that my buttbones can't stand more than a few hours on that van seat. I've managed to get this Permobil stuck a few times outdoors, and it's almost tipped me out of it a couple of times. That would be totally impossible with a mid-drive chair that has 6 wheels.

Marie, is this chair your ordered one, or the loaner?

Perry