Auxiliary Power Source

Spaz53

I am disabled and have a power chair with two 12 AGM batteries that are in the chairs battery box for a total of 24V. I charge the chair with the charger that came with it that has a three prong plug that goes into the chair the charger box that plugs into the wall. Because of my disability I cannot remove the battery box so therefore I need to charge it if there is a loss of electricity using the set up I use now. Is there anyway I can charge the chair using my set up from an auxiliary power source, such as a solar battery generator or a power inverter? I appreciate anybody's help. Thank you

Estragon

Do you expect power outages to be frequent and/or long duration?

There are a number of ways of doing what you want to do.

BB.

In general, connecting a small 24 volt solar charge controller directly to the battery bank (with a circuit breaker to protect your solar wiring) with a plug connected solar array should work fine.

Knowing the size of the battery bank (Amp*Hours), how many AH/WH per day you typically use, and roughly near where you live (get hours of sun).

Also, do you have a south facing location you can mount the solar panels (probably somewhere between 200-500 Watts of solar panels) where they can get full sun from ~9am to ~3pm every day (no shade)?

-Bill

Spaz53

Much too intricate for me. I said solar generator only because that's what it's called on Amazon. Basically it's a battery bank that will only last A certain time until it needs to be recharged as well but something is better than nothing. So is there a small generator front/powerpack that will do the job?

Estragon

With a need for simple operation and possible outages lasting a number of days, but not happening very often, a small gas, diesel, or propane powered electric start generator is likely your best bet.

BB.

A "solar generator" is, usually, just a smallish battery bank+AC inverter (aka UPS)+solar charge controller bolted on.

In general, they are not designed for off grid energy usage--More as a short term backup for outages of a few hours.

A good place to start--Get a Kill-a-Watt type meter and measure how much energy you use per day:

https://www.solar-electric.com/kiacpomome.html

Some libraries will loan out Kill-a-Watt meters (just like borrowing a book). Once you know how much energy use you have per day, then you can figure out some alternative solutions and see what works best for you.

A small genset (like a Honda eu900i eu2000i for less than $1,000) is nice and quiet--If you can store a few gallons of gasoline (siphon your car), and run the genset (exhaust fumes do not get into living quarters--I.e., a balcony on an apartment building is not safe for fumes and fuel/fires).

-Bill

Spaz53

I appreciate the info but being disabled all of those choices just won't work for me but thank you anyway

Dave Angelini

It should be fairly easy to find a battery with an inverter/charger built-in that would charge your chair in an outage one time only.
Would that work for you? It would recharge itself the next time the power came on.

Spaz53

Thank you for responding. Yes that would work if the unit could handle 24v. I'm not sure how the charger that came with the chair reduces current from the wall if at all and not sure if the generator/inverter could handle it

Spaz53

I saw several on Amazon anywhere from $200-$2000 they were like 60,000 MAH whatever that means

Dave Angelini

Yes I saw them also. I did something like this once and as long as it a one time recharge and leave for a safer place with power , these "boxes" are a value. Why don't you list the make of your chair and we can see if there are some specs out on the internet for it's capacity.
I think your spec in MAH is 60 amp hours which makes sense.

Dave Angelini

Is there an automobile nearby? Check this.
https://www.batterystuff.com/battery-chargers/24-volt/gel-cell/MC24EX.html

Spaz53

Unfortunately no

Spaz53

> @Dave Angelini said:
> Yes I saw them also. I did something like this once and as long as it a one time recharge and leave for a safer place with power , these "boxes" are a value. Why don't you list the make of your chair and we can see if there are some specs out on the internet for it's capacity.
> I think your spec in MAH is 60 amp hours which makes sense.

It's a pride gogo

Spaz53

It's a pride gogo chair

Dave Angelini

This is from amazon, do you think it is accurate?

Question:

Does this chair have off-board charging? The battery box can be easily removed to be plugged into a wall socket independant of the chair?

Answer:

yes my father leaves the chair in his trunk and just brings the battery inside to charge 
By BRADSTER00 on November 1, 2016

Yes. Battery can be removed from Go-Chair for charging. Weighty is about 30 to 40 pounds. Thought the directions in manual were fairly clear.Try several times and you will find easy to use. 
By Inquisitive learner on November 1, 2016

Yes, easily, as the chair was designed to be taken apart with little effort. The battery module has a handle and lifts off. 
By Amazon Customer on November 1, 2016

Spaz53

Yes this is accurate but being disabled, I don't have the strength to get the battery box out and I have no one to get it out for me. And if there's no electricity then it's a moot point. But thank you for trying so hard. God bless you my friend

BB.

If you have two 12 volt @ 60 AH (60,000 mAH) batteries, that is a fair amount of energy. Ideally, you would need a battery bank 2x larger and a 24 volt battery charger to recharge the chair after a full day's of use... Other chairs seem to use smaller batteries (maybe 12 volts @ 18 AH).

But, I doubt that you use 80%+ of your battery bank energy (i.e., you can drive around for a few days between chargers?).

At the very least, a Kill-a-Watt type meter (in my above post) to figure out how much energy you use per day will make it a lot easier to accurately size a possible solution (and how many days of emergency power do you want, 1, 2, or more days?).

-Bill

Dave Angelini

For $380 you could buy a quiet 1KW gasoline generator and leave it on the porch or a garage, or out on a deck. It would charge this easily with your existing charger.  The guy I helped ended up using a small Honda but how often do you expect this to happen?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I2IDB3O/ref=psdc_348967011_t3_B00P9ONS74