How to charge a power wheel’s battery without a charger?Nowadays, toys are also accompanied by a battery pack that can power them up and make them work.
One of such popular toys is the power wheel that children love to run around their lawns or ground.
They come with a rechargeable battery pack along with their designated battery charger.
However, you cannot always have a battery charger with it, and it can get lost or break due to unexplainable circumstances.
In this article, you will see how you can charge the battery without a charger with some efficient ways of charging.
Power Wheel Battery Charger Understanding
Power wheel batteries can be found ranging in 6V and 12V usually.
You can also upgrade these batteries to 24V while this upgrade will only let your child ride the toy faster than before.
However, using 24V is not recommended by the manufacturers as it can pose a hazard to the internal mechanism.
As these batteries are rechargeable, you have to charge them from time to time to maintain their health.
For this, you can get a charger with the product or can buy it separately from any toy store near you.
Things to Consider When Charging the Power Wheel Battery
Here are some points to keep in mind.
- While charging the power wheel battery, ensure that you have unplugged it from the product.
- To charge the battery, plug one end of the charger to the nearby electrical outlet and the other side to the battery terminals.
- See that the orange light turns on as you have plugged in the charger, which indicates that the power wheel battery is charging properly.
- Some chargers are shut down automatically as they are done with charging the battery, while others may not have this mechanism. So, to avoid overcharging, you should unplug the charger after some time.
When you are using a new battery with the power wheel, you should charge it first for 18 hours.
Also, after each use, charge the battery for 14 hours but it should not exceed more than 30 hours.
Charging the battery for 12 hours minimum will help you in extending the battery lifetime. Moreover, a fast charger will help you in charging the battery in fewer hours.
Every country has its own standards of outlet to follow, so make sure that you are getting one for your switch type so that there are no issues of compatibility.
Additionally, if you are not using the vehicle for a month or two, still you should take an adapter with you so that the battery doesn’t sit idle.
Choosing a Power Wheel Charger
Caption: Electric toy car
Whether you are getting a new charger for the first time or replacing your old one, you need to look into different options available in the market.
With a wide variety of chargers out there, it’s obvious that you will get confused for a while. So it’s better to keep these two factors in mind.
Compatibility
It is very important to check the compatibility of the charger with the power wheel battery.
For that, you can see the user manual that comes with the power wheel toy to check the suitable model and type in the book.
Choosing the appropriate charger will help the battery to charge better and maintain its health so that it works well.
Also, it will ensure that the battery life is long and gives a safe ride to the kids.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing brands are also very important to consider when buying the charger.
While there are a lot of companies out there claiming high-quality charger manufacturing, you have to look into the accreditations and certificates it is offering.
Moreover, checking the customer product review will help you purchase the correct charger for your power wheel battery.
List of Popular Power Wheel Chargers
Here are the four popular power wheel battery chargers that you can get from the market.
- Optima Digital 12V battery charger and maintainer, with built-in battery health detector and ability to charge dead batteries
- SafeAMP 12V Charger, best compatible with Fisher-Price power wheels
- Schumacher Fully Automatic Universal Battery Charger is one solution for multiple power wheels that you own
- Power Wheel Toddler 6V Charger, for small 6V batteries
How to Charge Power Wheel without Charger?
Caption: Electric bike and kid
If you do not have a charger with you for a power wheel battery, you can opt for either of the following methods.
Use Direct Power Supply for Charging
Direct power supplies may not be common because people have left using this method.
However, it may be efficient to use it as it can charge the battery better.
For that, you should know the wattage, voltage and amperage of the power supply before plugging in.
- Connect the plug of the battery with the power supply by linking the positive to the positive and the negative to the negative terminal.
- As the direct supply is charging the battery, use a multimeter and also visually check for overcharging or any other issues throughout the process. For safe charging, see the user manual as well.
- When charging is done, remove the negative connection first and then remove the positive connection.
Take Solar Panel Charging for example.
Solar panels are another efficient method as they use a limitless energy source, the sun. Moreover, they are becoming a cheaper resource to charge the battery. If you have alligator clips with the panels, you can easily follow these steps.
- Get a small generator that can get power from the solar panel and connect the alligator clips from the generator to the battery.
- Monitor the charging progress along the way and as the charging is done, remove the clips safely from the generator.
Use a Trickle Charger
Trickle chargers are meant for bigger vehicles, but as they are 12V, they can work perfectly fine with your small power wheel batteries as well.
But don’t charge the battery for more than 24 hours.
How to charge a power wheel’s battery without a charger? Use a Car Battery
If you have a car, you have a car battery that can be a perfect way to charge your power wheel batteries.
For starting the process, you need to get a connector and then proceed to charge the battery.
But, before that, check the battery voltage and car model since the older car had 6V batteries while the new one had 12V packs.
Also, identify the negative and positive terminals of these batteries so that you can connect them accurately with each other.
To connect the Power Wheel’s battery to the car’s battery, you need to
- Ensure the car’s engine is off unless you want to fry the Power Wheel’s battery before starting the process.
- Use battery cables with alligator clips to connect the Power Wheel battery’s positive terminal to the car battery’s positive terminal, and repeat the process for the negative terminals.
- After finishing the charging, disconnect the negative terminal first to avoid electricity arcing through the car, which can fry the battery.
How to charge a power wheel’s battery without a charger? Use a Portable Battery Charger
A portable battery charger is a help in disguise for people who don’t have any other mode of keeping their child’s toy running.
Additionally, the method of connecting these chargers with the battery is the same as using any regular charger.
With these chargers on hand, you will never have to worry about draining the power of your large vehicle (if you have any).
The toy will be independent of the vehicle you own. However, you need to charge these jump chargers with an electrical outlet in your home.
How to tell if a Power Wheel Battery is Charging?
Caption: Sand bikes for kids
To check if the power wheel battery is charging properly, see the following steps.
- Initially, you should plug in your charger for 8 hours and let it charge the battery.
- Then, find the negative and positive terminals of the battery to check the voltage reading on the battery.
- Take a digital multimeter and set it in the Voltage DC portion.
- Attach the prongs of the multimeter to the battery terminals and check the reading you are getting. If it gives you a reading of 12V, then the battery is charging properly. However, if the voltage reading is less than 12V, then the battery must be problematic.
Conclusion
Charging the power wheel battery is not impossible even if you lose its original charger.
You only need to find the correct way to do it and see which method is compatible with your power wheel.
So, charge the battery at any cost and save yourself from your child’s cry and hue.
Cloom offers its customer the best possible solutions when it comes to their electrical problems. To know more about us, visit our website by clicking here.