Battery for wheel chair adaptive van

[goodman1]

I have had trouble with wheel chair ramp coming all the way out. For the last couple of years, the telescopic ramp will come 75% out, and then go back in. I have to start the van and increase the amps of the battery for it to come all the way out. It did not have a problem for the first two years, the only common denominator is I have been using a Walmart Maxx battery. My van does not have a amp gauge to let me know what the amps are before or after starting it. I would think that all batteries have around 11 or 12 amps until it is started, and then come up to 13 or 14. If I buy a brand name batterylike AC Delco it is over $100 and the Walmart battery I probably will not be able to return because customer service tests the batteries now.

[Burgerman]

First of all forget amps.

Now, if the ramp works when the van is running where the engines alternator lifts the battery voltage to approx 14.40 volts, but not when the motor is stopped, where the battery volts will be anything between 12.0 and 12.7 - which is completely normal - then you have a problem with the ramp. Not the battery. After all it takes a hell of a lot more power to start the engine than to work a ramp.

IF the ramp is siezed, dirty etc or something else is restricting free movement then it thinks its hit something and stops. or returns. This will happen sooner without the motor running.

So you either have a fault with the sensor (which is usually measuring the current draw in Amps to detect a fault/obstruction) which rises when it hits an object or a person. OR the mechanical mechanism that causes the system to sense a resistance. Something not free moving, badly adjusted, dirty etc will cause it.

And you wont get a half decent battery for under around 200 plus dollars. Only junk. But if your existing one can start the engine then its not the cause of your problem

[motoman]

If its a VMI conversion the ramp motor could be on its way out. I had this problem on mine and a new ramp motor fixed it. Apparently they start to turn hard and a sensor thinks the ramp is hitting an obstacle and stops. Mine crapped out at less than a year, the van place said they may go 10 years or can be defective from new.

[goodman1]

Thanks, this is a awesome website. I wish I would have found it sooner. I am sure it is very dirty in there. I also have water penetrating under the van when it rains getting into the ramp cavity. I am very surprised it lasted this long. It sounds like I have been lucky so far. I am going to take it and get it serviced next week.

[ex-Gooserider]

Hindsight is 20/20, but when I was looking into van conversion choices, one of the things I was advised by many folks is to avoid the "in-floor" ramps and to get a fold-out style... (Braun does both, so I could have gotten the in-floor) What I was told was that the in-floors are OK in pleasant climates, but here in New England, where we get lots of snow, with plenty of sand and salt on top of it, is that you get a lot of crap in the in-floor guts, which raises havoc with them, and is very hard to clean out...

There is less stuff to go wrong with the fold out units, and most parts are where you can get at them for cleaning / lubrication.

In addition, it is easier to deal with a failure in a fold-out unit - if it doesn't deploy, I can give it a shove and it unfolds, if it doesn't stow, I have an emergency over-ride button that will make it fold with the motor, or worst case I can (with difficulty) fold it up by hand... Failures in an in-floor can be harder to fix on a "get me home" basis...

ex-Gooserider

[motoman]

I must be the last guy on earth that likes my infloor ramp. My ramp has no holes in in so I have no issues with debris getting under the floor, in fact when we raise the floor for servicing theres usually nothing there and I live in a northern climate. The mechanism is pretty simple for the ramp and with the exception of a bad motor I haven't had a bunch of issues with it. But, to each his own and mine is going on 5 years old so I'm sure something will crap the bed soon.