Common Mistakes To Avoid With Your Mobility Scooter

Mobility scooters are essential to many people’s lives, helping them to maintain independence, get around and generally enjoy life when they are otherwise unable to do so. With this in mind, it’s important to keep your scooter in top condition, but it’s also key that you know about the common mistakes which people often make when using a mobility scooter.

In this article we’re going to look at the different things people often do which causes problems or issues with a mobility scooter.

#1 Not Regularly Charging The Battery

Whether it’s because you’ve put the scooter away for the winter or you’ve just decided to take a break from using the scooter for a while, the battery needs to be charged consistently. Leaving the scooter, regardless of whether it had charge when you put it away or not, will result in the battery dying, without hope of reviving it when you bring it out for use again. The best advice is to charge your scooter consistently over night every few days even if you don’t intend to use it. This will keep the battery fresh and prevent it from fading out.

#2 Scooter Left In Freewheel Mode

On most scooters there is switch to put the scooter in freewheel mode (so it can be pushed around gently) or to put it into drive mode. This gear switch is something which most users forget about, leaving the freewheel mode on and trying to start the scooter. Doing this will cause your scooter to beep or warn you, not allowing you to drive off in freewheel mode. Sometimes you may have simply knocked it out of drive mode and not realised, so ensuring this switch is in the position you want it to be will save you a lot of headaches.

#3 Handlebars As Carriers

Although it can be tempting to put carrier bags and other heavy items of the handle bars this is definitely a huge no-no. By putting extra weight on the handlebar you are making it more difficult to turn, not least because the bag will probably present an obstacle on particularly sharp turns. Try to keep any baggage or shopping in a dedicated basket or between your feet on the floor of the scooter.

#4 Pressing The Throttle When Turning The Scooter On

Some people really want to get going and if you’re in a hurry it might be tempting to press the throttle as soon as you turn the key to start the scooter. However, this is a bad idea as it will confuse the scooter and result in you not being able to pull away. You’ll need to give your scooter a few seconds to kick to life before you put pressure on the throttle, so in this case a little bit of patience can save you plenty of confusion about why the scooter won’t start.

#5 Is the Charger Unplugged?

It’s good to give your scooter a full charge session, but if you want to use your scooter again you should check that the charger is unplugged. If you’re still plugged in to a power source you might not be able to move off and get on with your journey, so ensure you unplug your scooter first.

Hopefully these common mistakes will help you and solve some of your issues with your scooter. If you think you might need servicing or repair work for your scooter then simply contact us at Stechford Mobility today – our friendly staff will be happy to help you establish whether you have a common, easily fixed fault, or something which might need more attention.