Wheelchair and Mobility Batteries - Brands

What Type of Battery Does a Wheelchair Use?

There are two main types of batteries used to power wheelchairs: deep cycle AGM or gel sealed lead acid batteries. Either type can be used as a replacement battery for a wheelchair.

In most cases, deep cycle AGM batteries, or lead acid batteries are cheaper but require more maintenance. By comparison, gel sealed lead acid batteries can be a bit more expensive but are usually allow for more cycles in most applications.

What's the Difference Between Deep Cycle AGM and Gel Sealed Lead Acid Batteries?

• Deep Cycle AGM Batteries tend to have a larger capacity than their gel-cell counterparts. They can also supply more electrical power and tend to be cheaper to purchase. For these reasons, most people choose deep cycle AGM batteries as a replacement battery for a wheelchair.
• Gel Sealed Lead Acid Batteries are maintenance-free. There is also no chance of experiencing an accidental chemical spillage, so they're considered safer than deep cycle AGM batteries, but they are more expensive to buy initially. Despite the initial cost, gel batteries are able to be recharged more times than other types of batteries before you need to replace them.

Charging Your Wheelchair Battery

As wheelchair and mobile scooter batteries are 'deep cycle' batteries, they should be fully discharged before you recharge them. The majority of batteries can be recharged hundreds of times before they lose their power capacity and need to be replaced.

Keeping your wheelchair battery or mobile scooter battery charged means using the correct battery charging leads and charging unit. If you happen to use the wrong battery charger for your type of wheelchair battery or use a generic charger, you risk causing permanent damage to the battery. If you are needing to replace or upgrade your current charging unit Batteries Plus Bulbs If you need to replace wheelchair charger or have questions about your charging unit a member of Batteries Plus Bulbs team is happy to help you. Batteries Plus Bulbs offers wheelchair chargers from top brands like Duracell to help keep you moving.

Prolonging Your Battery Life

While most wheelchair and mobility scooter batteries are quite durable, they can be damaged. Over time undercharging your battery can damage it. Giving your mobile scooter battery a short burst of charge between uses may top up the power supply a little more but it can also damage the cells inside the battery itself, making it difficult to hold charge in the long run.

Over a period of time sulphur can also build up on the surface inside batteries, which reduces performance and capacity. If the sulphur build up gets thick enough the battery won't be able to be charged, which means it's time to look for a wheelchair or mobility scooter battery replacement.