Thursday, December 1, 2011

Can I leave my Wheelchair scooter in my garage during winter?

During winter time many people may not use their wheelchair much and preferred to leave it in the garage.  The the question is what happens to the batteries.  Most of the SLA batteries use sulfuric acid as electrolytes with a specific gravity of 1.300.  The freezing point of this sulfuric acid used in SLA batteries is (-71 C or -95F).  The lowest temperature ever recorded in US was in Alaska at it was (-62C or - 80F) on January 23, 1971.

Looking at the above data the electrolyte will not freeze during winter if you leave the wheelchair/scooter in your garage in USA.  However, some of the plastic parts in the wheelchair/scooter might get brittle and one need to be careful while handing plastic parts at cold temperatures.

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Why the SLA battery prices vary too much between suppliers?

Most of the SLA batteries used in small and medium size applications (up to 12V 75Ahr) batteries (also called General Purpose batteries) and imported from countries like China, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam.  Almost all of the OEMs buy these batteries from Asia and often they private label them.  Over the last twenty years the manufacturers in Asia improved the quality of the products they manufacture.

The reasons for wide range of pricing is due to several reasons.

*  Operational efficiency of a company
*  Expected profit margins
*  Company overhead
*  Volume of the products they sell
*  Inventory levels kept etc.,

Since there are hundreds of suppliers manufacture these products the price due to volume is negligible.  If you have good quality check during manufacturing process and efficient supply chain, quality business process and expecting reasonable margins one can afford to sell these products significantly lower compared to big OEMs.
At battery consulting we offer services to put check at balance at the manufacturing to produce quality process, develop and implement efficient business processes to keep your costs down. Contact us for more details. (877)394-3941.

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