I have a relatively new three-wheeled Chinese electric mobility scooter of the 15mph top speed variety.
Since the scooter was delivered from a firm in California last September I've had two electrical problems in particular that have yet to be solved. The first is that it only has a top speed fo 13mph, rather than the 15mph it's supposed to have. I had another similar scooter before this one(that expired from an unsolved electrical problem also), and while it had a 500 watt moter as opposed to a 750 watt motor in my new scooter, it did get the full 15mph top speed (as measured by radar at a local school's speed zone). It also got approximately 25 miles range per (full) charge, even though they advertised up to 40 miles...depending on several factors. The new scooter advertises the same numbers....15 top speed, and up to 40 miles range. This brings me to the second and most significant problem. I've had three sets of batteries put into this scooter since Sep. 2015 (thinking we had a battery problem), and the most range I've ever gotten is about 13 total miles, but when I sent the first set back I was getting less than 7 miles....but the dealer told me the mechanic charged and load tested my returned batteries and they were 96% capacity. The second set were highest with the 13-14 range, but they then deteriorated down to 6 or 7 miles max. The third set supplied by the dealer's U.S. battery vendor were supposedly tested before being sent to me, but from the get go they only got 6-7 miles range and that's where I am currently. It's not likey that all three sets of new batteries were bad, especially now that two of them have been load tested.
There is a fact that should also be inserted here. To my knowledge there is only one other retailer in the country that sells this model scooter. I contacted them and they were considerate enough to let me talk to their technician, and he confirmed that their units, which were 800 watt motors, were indeed getting the full 15mph top speed and 20-30 miles range per charge....depending on weight, terrain, etc. So there is something definitely wrong with my scooter. He said his approach would be to check for shorts, check the electronic control modules, and lastly check for a defective motor.
I have been able to find only one mobility scooter dealer within my county willing to service this type scooter and they were unable to detect any shorts, and the electronic module controller(s) and batteries tested Ok according to them. To be quite frank, my impression was that this dealer was not very knowledgeable...especially in things electrical...just had some superficial knowledge from being around mobility scooters for a while, so I don't know how efficient or complete his testing was.
If anyone can offer some suggestions as to what kind of an issue could be causing the lowered top speed and the excessive limits of range by either draining excessive power, or perhaps preventing maximum charging I would truly appreciate hearing from you. Thus far it does seem that it's probably not due to defective or poor quality batteries. The old charger that I used with my first scooter which did not have these problems, is now being used with the new scooter, so it's also probably not the charger.....I should mention that the new charger that came with the second scooter was almost identical to the old charger, but the indicator lights eventually quit and so did the charging. The dealer replaced it, but the replacement charger also failed within a couple weeks itself, so that's why I'm using the old scooter's charger now, but the top speed and range problems remain uneffected. I'm currently considering buying a third party charger..see my post in the batteries forum if you wish.
Any suggestions on how to go about diagnosing and correcting this electrical problem, or locating someone who is qualified to do so, would be greatly appreciated. The dealer who sold me the scooter had just bought the dealership from the individual who sold me the previous mobility scooter, so unfortunately their knowledge is scant on servicing this scooter as well.
Since the scooter was delivered from a firm in California last September I've had two electrical problems in particular that have yet to be solved. The first is that it only has a top speed fo 13mph, rather than the 15mph it's supposed to have. I had another similar scooter before this one(that expired from an unsolved electrical problem also), and while it had a 500 watt moter as opposed to a 750 watt motor in my new scooter, it did get the full 15mph top speed (as measured by radar at a local school's speed zone). It also got approximately 25 miles range per (full) charge, even though they advertised up to 40 miles...depending on several factors. The new scooter advertises the same numbers....15 top speed, and up to 40 miles range. This brings me to the second and most significant problem. I've had three sets of batteries put into this scooter since Sep. 2015 (thinking we had a battery problem), and the most range I've ever gotten is about 13 total miles, but when I sent the first set back I was getting less than 7 miles....but the dealer told me the mechanic charged and load tested my returned batteries and they were 96% capacity. The second set were highest with the 13-14 range, but they then deteriorated down to 6 or 7 miles max. The third set supplied by the dealer's U.S. battery vendor were supposedly tested before being sent to me, but from the get go they only got 6-7 miles range and that's where I am currently. It's not likey that all three sets of new batteries were bad, especially now that two of them have been load tested.
There is a fact that should also be inserted here. To my knowledge there is only one other retailer in the country that sells this model scooter. I contacted them and they were considerate enough to let me talk to their technician, and he confirmed that their units, which were 800 watt motors, were indeed getting the full 15mph top speed and 20-30 miles range per charge....depending on weight, terrain, etc. So there is something definitely wrong with my scooter. He said his approach would be to check for shorts, check the electronic control modules, and lastly check for a defective motor.
I have been able to find only one mobility scooter dealer within my county willing to service this type scooter and they were unable to detect any shorts, and the electronic module controller(s) and batteries tested Ok according to them. To be quite frank, my impression was that this dealer was not very knowledgeable...especially in things electrical...just had some superficial knowledge from being around mobility scooters for a while, so I don't know how efficient or complete his testing was.
If anyone can offer some suggestions as to what kind of an issue could be causing the lowered top speed and the excessive limits of range by either draining excessive power, or perhaps preventing maximum charging I would truly appreciate hearing from you. Thus far it does seem that it's probably not due to defective or poor quality batteries. The old charger that I used with my first scooter which did not have these problems, is now being used with the new scooter, so it's also probably not the charger.....I should mention that the new charger that came with the second scooter was almost identical to the old charger, but the indicator lights eventually quit and so did the charging. The dealer replaced it, but the replacement charger also failed within a couple weeks itself, so that's why I'm using the old scooter's charger now, but the top speed and range problems remain uneffected. I'm currently considering buying a third party charger..see my post in the batteries forum if you wish.
Any suggestions on how to go about diagnosing and correcting this electrical problem, or locating someone who is qualified to do so, would be greatly appreciated. The dealer who sold me the scooter had just bought the dealership from the individual who sold me the previous mobility scooter, so unfortunately their knowledge is scant on servicing this scooter as well.
