I have a Pride Go Go Elite Traveller Plus. The battery it came with when we bought it lasted for over a year. Batteries bought from suppliers in South Africa where I am located last less than two months. My husband then, while travelling bought batteries from a pride supplier in the UK and brought them back to South Africa. They alsolasted less than two months. What exactly is the type of battery that comes with a new scooter and where can I get either replacement batteries or battery pack either in South Africa or elsewhere. At wits end as I use my scooter daily.

Lead acid battery technology is old and crude. There have been developments and improvements but they remain relatively crude and intolerant of abuse or bad treatment, even unintentionally.

The standard types, of which there are two main types, such as found on cars for starting the engine or alarm standby duty is soon permanently damaged if it not kept fully charged. The two types are liquid electrolyte or gel electrolyte and the latter is usually sealed.

The type used to power motors, tools, mobile lighting are similar in principle but are constructed to be discharged and recharged many times. These are called deep cycle or traction batteries. There are types referred to as semi-traction batteries or leisure batteries but only deep cycle batteries should be used with a mobility scooter.

A quality deep cycle battery should last many charge/discharge cycles, numbering between 500 and a couple of thousand and the difference is mostly how they are recharged. Recharging a battery causes it to become warm and the warmer it becomes the shorter the battery life will be. It is more beneficial to connect the charger for a top up charge after a short journey than to wait until the battery is almost discharged - because it heats the battery less, however if the battery is recharged an average of once per day you should expect a life of at least two years.

I suspect the reason your batteries are so short-lived is they are heating up too much while recharging. The high ambient temperature in South Africa won't be helpful but I strongly suggest you suspect the battery charger is faulty. You could replace it without checking it but I feel you should invest in a voltmeter or multimeter to ensure the charger is working correctly.

Yuasa is a reliable brand of battery and dealers of these can be found all over the world and good discounts are possible. When you buy new batteries you should insist on a copy of the data sheet which will provide recharging information so you can monitor charging current and voltage to see if the Pride charger is working correctly.

Good luck!

You need to contact the manufacturer of the scooter