Mobility Scooter

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Have a mate with one of these - and he's been quoted some ridiculous figure for new batteries.

Is it worth me looking at it and seeing if I can find a cheaper way?

[S Viemeister]

Out of curiosity - is your friend ex-BBC?

[Nightjar]

Traction batteries usually are expensive, so I would not expect you to be able to make major savings, but it ought to be worth looking at finding a cheaper supplier.

Colin Bignell

[Bill Wright]

I have a lot of experience of this. The disability market marks things up by 100 to 150%. For example I was quoted £320 by a disability outfit for the batteries for a big scooter. The exact same batteries (same make everything) were £160 from a battery firm.

My wife's buggy takes batteries that are £100 each from the disability shops; £55 from battery firms.

Wherever you buy from, ask first if they have the form to fill in certifying disability so there's no VAT.

You must get sealed lead acid batteries, and they must be deep discharge types. Ordinary lead acid (burglar alarm ones, car ones etc) are not suitable.

Bill

[Martin Brown]

Worth having a look on rapidonline and/or a couple of dedicated lead acid battery suppliers to see if they have anything suitable with the right dimensions and rating. Deep discharge high current batteries tend to be expensive but they get marked up a lot in this application.

The disability market is full of overcharging sharks and spivs (much like banks). Still Diamonds it seems are not forever...

[Chris Bartram]

I was once sold mobility scooter or wheelchair batteries as replacements for a UPS, and they were cheaper than OE. Have you tried a battery specialist? I used

but there must be one near you.

[Dave Liquorice]

Why am I not surprised?

are mainly UPS sellers but do have a "Golf Batteries" section. I've bought the last couple of set of UPS batteries from them at good prices and quick delivery.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I replaced the non deep cycle type in a jumpstart/compressor unit with a deep cycle one when the original finally died.

The deep cycle one was slightly cheaper and slightly lower capacity for the same physical size. Came from CPC (IIRC, make was Camden). Still going strong, but too new to comment on longevity.

What capacity and how many does it use?

[Bill Wright]

For all I know they'd be OK, but all the manufacturers used sealed so I've just followed that.

No, honestly, I shouldn't use ordinary ones. They don't last five minutes even if you try to keep them charged up. The thing is, once the battery capacity starts to drop the person is likely to be stranded. A car battery will still start the car and seem to be quite OK when it's well shagged, but these batteries need to be in pretty good nick or they are a nuisance. The range just drops and drops over months rather than years if you use car-type batteries. When you think about it, an ordinary battery doesn't really do much work. In a car it gets a big discharge very briefly then it gets charged for the rest of the time. A UPS battery does f*ck all except once or twice in its life. Batteries for scooters really do have a hard time compared to that. I have found that the life of these batteries can be extended significantly by the use of intelligent chargers, such as those used on yachts etc. I was sceptical but did a real comparison test over years and found it to be true. Incidentally I used to recommend Elecsol but the UK distributors have acted in a way which I feel is rather shady over the last deal I did with them.

Bill

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[Bill Wright]

If you can find some that fit, the 'leisure' batteries meant for motorhomes can be very good value. Don't go to a caravan shop though, they mark up nearly as much as the disability shops. Use a battery specialist.

Bill

[newshound]

I've had a couple of decent leisure batteries (used for lighting and electric fences at a stable) from eBay suppliers.

[Frank Erskine]

"Golf Batteries" sounds like a "hole" lot of "balls" to me, but I suppose it's "par for the course".

:-)

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

It's likely SLA, so have a look at

[Bill Wright]

They seem to have a lot of cheap stuff; the sort of thing they sell on the market.

Bill

[Peter Crosland]

Unless they are in the catalogue as specifically for a disability scooter or wheelchair VAT is payable.

Peter Crosland