Traveling with a battery in your wheelchair
or scooter
Both automobiles and electric wheelchairs
(or scooters) use batteries, but not all batteries are the
same or used for the same purpose. Automobiles use a battery
to start the engine to get the car underway, while wheelchairs
use a battery as their continuous source of power. For this
reason, traditional car batteries will not work very long,
or at all, in a power wheelchair. Instead, power wheelchairs
and scooters need a "deep-cycle" battery capable
of delivering hours of continuous power.
The "deep-cycle" cousin of the
traditional automobile lead-acid, "wet-cell" battery
can also be found on a power wheelchair. Wet-cell deep-cycle
batteries on power wheelchairs is not the type of battery
we recommend for any sort of travel. Traditional wet-cell
batteries contain sulfuric acid that can spill from a tilted
battery or leak from a hairline crack in the battery case.
Any acid that escapes from a wet-cell battery will corrode
your wheelchair, your wiring, or maybe some important part
on an aircraft. That is why most air carries refuse to carry
spillable wet-cell batteries when they remain attached to
a wheelchair. Travelers should expect airlines to remove the
wet-cell battery(s) from their wheelchair and seal them in
a chemical-proof, spill-proof container. At the other end
of the flight the wet-cell batteries and the wheelchair will
be delivered separately...most often left on the jetway for
you to reassemble.
For traveling, we recommend sealed dry-cell
or gel-cell batteries. These batteries also contain lead plates
and sulfuric acid but since they are sealed, their acid can
not escape, cause damage, or crash a plane. If the case around
the battery cracks, the material inside is dry, or like Jello,
and takes a long time to leak. Gel and dry cell batteries
may be a little more expensive but, for their ease of traveling
on aircraft and their low potential for leaking acid on your
wheelchair or an important airplane control, they are a worthy
investment.
An important note: If you are changing battery
types from wet-cell to dry-cell or gel-cell, you must have
a battery charger designed for your new type of battery. Dry-cell
and gel-cell batteries require a special type of charger.
When traveling on an aircraft, we suggest
making it easy for the airline personnel to disconnect the
main power wire from the battery. Hard to find and hidden
connections invite the airline staff to remove the entire
battery box. This may mean some disassembly of your wheelchair
at the beginning of your journey and could mean that removed
parts might night make it to the destination with your wheelchair
and battery. If the main power wire connects directly to the
side of your battery box make a small label covered by clear
tape reading "Disconnect Battery Here." If the main
connections are hidden, have a repair shop install new "quick
lock /quick release" connections in a visible location.
Mark each side of the "quick lock /quick release"
connection with a small label reading "Disconnect Battery
Here." Colored electrical tape (available from most hardware
stores) wrapped around the wire near the "quick lock
/quick release" connection also helps to identify the
power disconnect point.
When it comes to traveling outside of the
USA, a little more rocket science is needed to charge your
battery. The standard US electrical current is 110 volts while
European standard current is 220 volts. The discrepancy in
current means that plugging your 110 volt battery charger
into a 220 volt European powerhouse outlet will overwhelm
your charger with an extra 110 volts, overload your circuits
and destroy your wheelchair. To prevent this you must use
a "step-down converter" that will step-down, or
reduce the 220 volts European current to 110 volts. HOWEVER...not
just any step-down converter will work. The converter units
are designed to handle different power requirements. Less
expensive units can be used for electric shavers and CD players,
heftier models for hair dryers while beefy commercial models
are for wheelchair batteries. We recommend contacting the
manufacturer of your wheelchair to learn their recommendations
and power requirements. Many manufacturers offer their own
products, or can recommend products from other manufacturers
that will not void the warranty on your wheelchair. REMEMBER...there
are no inexpensive "deals" when it comes to purchasing
a step-down converter for a power wheelchair. Without a properly
rated step-down converter, your first attempt at charging
your battery in Europe will be your last!
