Mobility scooters help many millions of Americans each year who have trouble walking due to age, arthritis, or muscular diseases. Many grocery and retail stores offer mobility scooters for their customers to use, making it easy to get around and eliminating the need of bringing your with you to the store. As with almost anything mechanical there may come a time that your electric mobility scooter will require some troubleshooting. Make sure you consult the user manual for your mobility scooter, but there are several common things that are easy to check and many times will easily solve the problem you are having.

One of the most dreaded things that can happen, especially after you have seen the full benefit derived from your mobility scooter, is when it just won't start because it appears to be dead. The first thing you should do in these instances is to remove the key and then reinsert the key. If that still does not fix your problem then you should ensure that you have fully charged the battery. If you used it heavily for several days without charging it, it is possible that the unit has no charge. If this does not resolve the problem, then you should reset the breaker switch. Most scooters have a main breaker circuit, which is similar, in concept anyway, to the black breakers commonly found homes. Find the breaker and either turn it off and on again or push the reset button, depending on the model of mobility scooter you have. The next step in the trouble shooting process is to check all of the connections of the battery, and to follow the wires from the battery and check that the wiring harness connections are all tight. If this still does not fix your problem then you will probably want to take the device to a certified service repair center.

If when using your mobility scooter, the battery gauge indicates a full or adequate charge, but the throttle control does not do anything then your mobility scooter may be in free wheel mode. Most electric mobility scooters have something similar to neutral in a car called free wheel mode. When a mobility scooter is in free wheel mode, the brakes and transmission is disengaged which makes it easy to push or pull the mobility scooter. Many times the free wheel mode switch is located in the back of the mobility scooter, so if you are pushing the throttle control and nothing is happening than ensure that it is not in free wheel mode.

If your mobility scooter's main circuit breaker is constantly tripping, or if the battery gauge dips down low and the motor surges or hesitates when the throttle is pushed it could be a sign of an electrical problem. First though ensure that the mobility scooter is fully charged and in the case of a tripping main circuit breaker it may just be a case of infrequent charging, so try to get on a regular charging schedule. If charging the scooter does not fix the problem then it is probably a good idea to take it to a certified service repair center. There are several tests that can be ran on the electrical systems with a battery load tester and voltmeters, both available from most auto parts stores, but these exceed the scope of this document.

If your mobility scooter stops working don't panic. Consult the user manual that came with your mobility scooter and follow these simple troubleshooting steps. If that still doesn't resolve your problem it may be necessary to contact a certified service repair center and have a certified technician take a look your mobility scooter.