Determing charger required

[smksat12]

Folks<p>First forgive my complete absence of technical knowledge....I was given a motorized tricycle that appears to be some kind of prototype for a toy that might one day hit the consumer market. There's no manufacturer on it, no indication where it comes from, no logos...nothing.<p>It came without a charger. And the battery will soon run down.<p>There is an input for a charger, and I need to figure out how I can determine what kind of charge it takes. I presume I can buy a universal charger and set it to the correct voltage with the correct polarity (the ONLY sticker on the toy at least indicates polarity, but not voltage).<p>Can anyone give me an easy way of determining what kind of charge it needs?<p>Regards
Simon

[jwax]

If it is of "unknown" origin and inner workings, you have to determine what batteries are in it.
They are typically gel cells, either 6 volt or 12 volt, and wired, who knows?
Take a look at them to determine their voltage. If 6 volt, a 6 volt charger is needed, and you could connect directly to the battery. It would help if you could provide a wiring sketch of what you find.

[jollyrgr]

In "general" sealed Gel Cell lead acid batteries come in these ride on toys. What you will need is a wall wart to match the correct voltage of the battery or batteries used in this thing. The current should be "in general" about one amp or so. <p>Somewhere there will be a battery in this device. If you could read off the part number of the battery and the brand name, this would be of great help. If you can't get to the battery you might look at the connector for the charging port. If you can access the the terminals with a volt meter probes, measure the voltage and note the polarity. Connect the charger so that positive goes to positive from the charger. <p>Again, without knowing what the battery is for sure, the information given is a guess. But most likely you have a six volt gel cell or a 12 volt gell cell. If it is a lead acid battery generally you just hook up a DC power supply of the correct voltage and let it recharge the battery. No special regulator is really needed with them like NiCads or NiMH. A sealed gel cell lead acid battery will be a largish rectangle device with push terminals on it. If you get the brand name and part number I will try and find the exact specs of the battery or cross it to a replacement that will be similar.

[peter-f]

Take the battery you have, if possible, for connections and dimensions. Find the battery specs, primarily Volts and Amps, (should be on it), and take a trip to Toys-R-Us... they have a wide selection of batteries for replacement in those things... with chargers (or chargers alone). <p>Expect $80-100 for a full setup... less if your battery is a near match, because you Have the battery. <p>Also note: generally a slow charger will prolong overall battery life - if your child can stand the wait!<p>[ July 05, 2005: Message edited by: peter-f ]</p>