Is swapping batteries front to back regularly a good idea?
 

Gen 2 Lion question:
Accepting the fact that the rear battery is used more, takes longer to top off, and fails more frequently (at least in my case; had to replace after 11 months)... Would it be a good idea to swap front to rear every few months?

Good idea to do
 

Plus that give you a chance to check the connections and the screws for corrosion and to clean the machine.

I give my machines a real good cleaning about 2 times a year, pull the batteries, wheels get in under the fenders and all. Also gives you a chance to inspect the machine for any wear and tear.

I wonder, if in your case (failure after 11 months) whether swapping them might have caused the failure to take longer to materialise. Another month or two and you are beyond your warranty period. In the UK, despite the 12 month warranty, if the batteries failed within say 13 or 14 months (and assuming the dealer was taking a hard line over the warranty), you may still have a chance, providing the batteries have been treated properly and not used excessively. Goods need to last a reasonable length and be fit for purpose. Is there something similar your side of the pond?

Having said that, I'd still swap them around, for the reasons Will suggests.

Of course, it is possible that had he swapped the batteries, the rear battery may have never been stressed so bad that eventually failed...

You can play 'what if ' games all day...

In a word, YES it is a good idea to swap them from time to time...

I have a penchant for thinking aloud sometimes - it occasionally wanders onto this forum too :o.

The annoying thing is, the red light occurring in this way is symbolic of a faulty battery. Lights should never go red if charging is maintained - therefore, the battery (by INC's standards) is faulty - and I'd rather discover this in my warranty period. I had exactly the same situation myself (10 or 11 months in). I swapped them around the red light went away... for a while. It came back - outside of my warranty period. I was then a little stressed about how it would all be taken care of... but it was taken care of, and in part, thanks to me notifying my dealer at the time that I was experiencing a red light. The incident was logged during the warranty period making it easier to sanction a replacement later on.

I'm off to play a few more "what if" games... what if Segway was owned by a UK company... :)

Irrespective of Gareth's 'what if', I think that in the EU it would be quite difficult for Segway to limit its liability to one year on an electrical product of this value- there are rules about reasonably expected lifetime of high value goods. If you spend £5000.00 on something it is reasonable to expect it to be of sufficient quality to run for a lot longer than just 12 months. The difficulty comes with how you define the battery, is it a 'consumable part'? I would argue that for what Segway batteries cost they are definitely not a consumable part, you practically have to take out a second mortgage! In the end there will have to be a test case which if it goes in the consumer's favour will mean a hike in Segway prices to cover the extra insurance they will have to carry. The battery costs are the real elephant in the room of Segway running costs. I had a battery fail just inside the warranty also. Had it been outside the warranty, it would have made a complete nonsense of my running costs per mile! If Segs are to break into the mainstream this really is an issue that needs to be addressed- Would you buy a car that did 200 miles/ gallon but whose fuel tank needed to be replaced avery 18 months at a cost of $1500?? Just to be totally clear, I am not accusing Inc of making a substandard product, just that the technology does not seem to be fully mature and from a marketing point of view, this needs to be recognised.

Great post. It is short and to the point, and most importantly I agree with it completely.