Thread: Ron in AK
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Old 06-02-2012, 09:46 AM   #2
KSagal
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pelham, NH, USA.
Posts: 10,356
5 yr Member HT/PT Owner SegwayFest Attendee
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I thought of this very thing, two sets of batteries on board at the same time long ago, and posted it. I brought it up back in the days when the batteries had half the range they do today.

I have never heard of anyone successfully doing this, and I suspect it may be because the segway itself manages very carefully the voltage and current draw from the batteries at all times when the machine is turned on.

My thoughts were not so much to run one set and charge the other while both plugged in thru an A/B switch, but more to have two sets of charged batteries, and when low, swap more like your airplane analogy.

I do know a man who used to carry a car battery that would charge a spare set of batteries with him while hunting, but when depleted he would just unscrew the fatigued batteries and replace them with the set of fresh. Then put the tired ones in the box with the car battery and inverter.

If you are out in the field long enough, it would make sense to replace the car battery with a small generator arrangement. (Since he was a hunter, I suspect he wanted to stay quiet) I also do not know how many charges you can get into the segway batteries from one charged car battery. I suspect not too many, as I would think their capacity similar.

The other problem is that I do not know of any fast charge or system where you could charge depleted batteries nearly as fast as you can deplete them...

My segway has about a 20 mile range on pavement, and with a 12+ mph speed, I can fully discharge in about 90 minutes. I surely cannot charge any other battery set in the same time frame. As an off road X series, I suspect you can easily deplete the batteries in less than an hour, and I know of no method to charge segway batteries that fast.

If the investment is not too daunting, it may just make sense to carry several sets of charged batteries, and swap them in when needed. This is essentially what the cross country team did when they first crossed the continent with a segway back in 2005(?).

Good luck, keep us posted with your findings.
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