As an electric scooter sales and service center, It is amazing how many run down, rusted out electric scooters are brought to the shop for repairs. With the weather halfway pleasant, more people are digging their old electric powered scooters out from under the mass of collectibles in their garages.
Things to consider when you are planning to repair that old warhorse include such factors as does it still run?, will it take a charge? How much is it going to cost to get it running again? And is it really worth it, or should I just give it to the dumpster gods?
Cosmetics don’t mean a thing if the brains and the guts are not working, so don’t make a judgment based on appearance. With a little rust remover, chrome polish and elbow grease, you would be surprised at what can come out.
The most important thing to consider is the brain and the guts of your electric friend. All electric scooter, no matter the make, brand or model, work on the same principle.
The electric Scooter Brain: The brain of the system is what is known as the control box. This little box regulates such things like the lights, if you have them, the amount of voltage pulled from the batteries, and the amount of wattage required by the motor
The deal with controllers is that there are several different models and designs and depending on the scooter type and the age of the scooter, this controller might be hard to find, or may not be available at all. The basic cost for a controller can range from $25.00 to $45.00 depending on the type required.
The Guts: I refer to the guts as the batteries. The batteries are the first things you need to check before deciding on anything else. If you have more than one battery, you need to separate each battery and test them individually. Hook them up to a charger and see what the charger says. I recommend a charger that has an automatic cutoff when charged that will read the voltage. If the batteries come up with a fault, look at the fault code. Normally if it can not be charged, the tester will tell you. If it charges, watch the final reading and if it is 12.5 volts or higher, then that battery is good and you do not need to replace that battery. You just saved from $35.00 to $45.00 on average.
If you have a multi battery system, you may find that you only have to replace one battery. That is the norm and if anyone tells you that you need to replace all the batteries in the series without checking them first, they just want your money. Take our advice and check each one yourself.
Now that you figured out the battery situation, you need to make a decision. If the batteries look good, hook them back up and with the rear wheel off the ground try to turn the throttle. Does it turn? If so, it may be worth fixing. If not, there are a few things that need to b looked at, but more likely it is not worth the time or effort to fix.
Bottom line is what you wan to put into it as compared to just getting a new modern model.
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