Electric Scooter Maintenance Tips
If you are thinking about buying one of the best electric standing scooter models you will know that they have been around for quite a long time and they’re currently dominating the market.
However, these scooters can occasionally develop small problems and even breakdown due to insufficient maintenance.
For example, an electric scooter can break down due to failures such as an interrupted power supply, which may result from failed controller box, low battery charge, malfunction master switch or loose/broken connection.
Did you know that there are certain simple measures you can employ to avoid missing your nice rides? Apart from failed controller box, the rest of the problems are easy to deal with and you can handle them on your own, without necessarily contacting an expert. Check out the following tips on proper maintenance to keep your electric scooter running.
Keep A Record Of Your Scooter Details
Even before you begin any maintenance procedure you can really help yourself by taking photo's of serial numbers, wiring harnesses and battery connections
Always ensure you keep a record of crucial details
These include; marking spacers, recording, and position of the wires. You can use a pen and a paper to record this information, which you will be referring from during your maintenance procedures.
It can be useful to take a photo of these parts, this makes it easy for you to learn how to reconnect each of the wires and where to route each of the wiring harnesses. Use a pen and paper when disassembling wheels to mark the spaces and their locations. Mark the position of bolts and adjusters to make the reassembly easy.
Tire Inflation
Ensure that all the tires are properly inflated. You can use your hands to tell if the current pressure is not sufficient for your scooter. If your finger can visibly sink into the tires if you press, then obviously you need to do some re-filing. A simple pressure gauge can also be used to determine the exact current pressure available in your tires.
Normally, small tires loose pressure quickly and, therefore, should be filled up frequently. Most small tires accept air pressure of between 35 to 85 psi. Apart from ensuring proper contact with the ground surface, properly filled up tires prevents the tube from rotating inside the tire during acceleration and braking.
If the tubes are allowed to rotate, the valve stem will end up being destroyed, by being cut from the inner tube. This means you’ll have to buy a new inner tube for replacement.
When replacing or changing the inner tube, partially inflate the tube to ensure that it gets out of the path of the rim perfectly. Adding a little air pressure enables the tube to fill out and therefore easily get out the rim. After that, tighten all the tire rim bolts securely and then finish the task by adding the correct tire pressure.
Some people have found themselves in a problem after realizing they accidentally pinched the inner tube when doing replacement of a bad one, hence resulting into a hole in the tube.
Battery Maintenance
Batteries are typically an essential part of an electric scooter. They need to be charged frequently using a high-quality charger that you can acquire from your manufacturer or recommended dealer. The charger should have a battery status light indicator, usually red for charging and green for fully charged.
Remove the battery from the charger once it’s fully charged
Leaving the battery in the charger for too long may also cause damage to it.
An electric scooter battery may be self-charging to about 60% on its own, which is an insufficient charge for longer rides. You can detect that your battery is getting old if it’s not capable of holding a full charge for longer hours, and the best decision is to replace the battery with a new one.
Before charging the scooter battery, allow it to cool for about an hour. Heat is likely to cause damage to the battery and that’s why it is recommended that you keep it as cool as possible during the rides and during charging. Always take breaks during your rides to allow the battery to cool down.
You should also avoid leaving your battery idle for too long. This allows sediments to collect at the bottom of the battery and, therefore, shorting out the lead particles, especially for the 24 Volt single cell Vapor battery that had the cells built closer to each other.
However, nowadays most electric scooters come with two 12 volt gel or NiCad batteries rather than the Lead/Acid type. These maintenance tips will help you to increase your battery’s life expectancy. We go into battery maintenance in detail in our article "How Do I Extend The Battery Life Of My Electric Scooter?".
Electric Scooter Chain Tension Maintenance
Always maintain the right tension on your drive chain during use. Riding a scooter with a loose drive belt will cause the teeth to slip and wear easily. Usually, belt failures occur as a result of slippage or heat generated due to improper tension. You can adjust the belt by moving the rear tire forward.
When replacing your belt, always check your specification and allow for appropriate inch gap, preferably one-half to one-quarter inch. This work for most of the current scooters. Prevent any kind of slippage and don’t overtighten the belt. Also, ensure that you center-position the belt to avoid it riding against the hubs on the tire hence causing wear and tear.
You can place the scooter on a chair or a stand to enable the rear wheel freely turn and run the scooter. This allows you to visibly confirm that the belt is centrally positioned hence avoiding possible complete separation or even failure of the belt.
Avoid Riding Electric Scooters On Wet Surfaces
Just as the name suggests, electric scooters are made up of several electric components, which may fail if exposed to water. Don’t take your scooter to muddy surfaces, watery grounds or even wet grass. Electric scooters are typically meant for dry hard surfaces.
Apart from causing failures of the electrical components, water exposes the scooter to rust and you should always wipe down chrome pieces to avoid rusting.
Electric Scooter Lubrication
Never forget the oil. Just like any other moving electric equipment, scooters require regular lubrication on the moving parts of the chain. If you use your scooter often, you should consider lubrication at least once per week. Always use the right type of lubrication oil and use and clean the sections that require lubrication, before applying the oil.
To prevent binding, oil brake linkages and throttle lightly and also check the bolts and nuts to ensure they’re tightly closed that they can’t come out easily.
Ensuring a proper maintenance of your electric scooter will not only prevent you from accidents but also enables your scooter to last for a longer period of time.
Prevention is always better than care and if you apply the above tips appropriately, you will enjoy the best from your electric scooter rides.
As always, thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy all our guides reviews and reviews on this site!
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