Gel Batteries don't do well in the cold. Trickle chargers, usually state that they are not for GEL batteries. Better to bring the batteries indoors and charge once a week, overnite with a 12 volt charger at 3 but no more than 5 amps. Additionally, a gel type battery can lose up to 1% of its total energy every 24 hours if not charged. This, to me, implies that at the end of 7 day you have lost 7% of about 13.5 volts. You could alternate the use of the charger, every weekend. I hope this helps. Best Wishes In a message dated 1/8/2015 3:55:04 P.M. Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
I have a new wheelchair, but I would like to keep my old Invacare wheelchair as a spare. I live in the Washington DC area (it gets below freezing in winter) and I am hoping to store my old wheelchair outside in a shed. I have been told that I need something called a "trickle charger" to maintain the batteries. I do not have power in my shed, and so I have been considering solar trickle chargers. The majority of trickle chargers I have found online are 12 V but I think I need a 24 V trickle charger with an XLR3 connector. Have any of you done something like this before? Do you have any recommended solutions or vendors? Can I use my existing charger on some sort of a scheduled basis to maintain the batteries safely? Thanks so very much, Dave Krehbiel (301)924-4530
