For those parents that have already bought a Fisher Price Power Wheels vehicle, at some point you may need to or may want to buy a replacement battery charger. However, unfortunately, not all Power Wheels battery charger accessories are made the same, have the same level of quality, same features or more importantly are not universally compatible with your specific vehicle's battery.
By buying the wrong charger you risk the all too common problems of the battery charger simply not working, causing damage to your battery or not providing the same level of useful features that you could have had for probably the same price. So the two minutes or so to glance over this quick help guide hopefully will save you a lot of additional hassle, wasted time, prevent unnecessary battery damage and you may just end up saving a bit of money along the way.
Power Wheels Battery Charger Compatibility
Basically you need to match the specific battery that you have in your particular vehicle with a compatible battery charger.
This mainly applies to those of you that have a 6 volt battery powered vehicle, as there are currently three types of 6 volt batteries available (green, blue and red) and each of them has a different capacity ranging from 4 amps/hour to 9.5 amps/hour. The easiest way to deal with this is to check the color of your battery and then check the specific battery charger Power Wheels spec before you buy to ensure that it is compatible.
If your vehicle has a single 12 volt battery, then things are a little easier, as there is currently only one white with grey top 12v battery available. Be aware that some Advanced Series Power Wheels vehicles that are 12 volts, actually run on two 6 volt red batteries, so the 6v compatibility check, as detailed above, should be carried out.
Increasing, there seems to be third part battery chargers appearing on the market that are more universally suitable for charging a wider model range of Fisher Price batteries, so these could be an option. In general parents stick to the official Fisher Price battery chargers for brand loyalty and reliability reasons perhaps as well as the fact that the branded battery charger seems to be the most available.
Fast Charge Capability
One of the greatest nuisances for parents and more so for the kids that own a Power Wheels vehicle, is the inevitable continual and extended charging periods that are needed. For those very organized types that anticipate their child's next day Power Wheels adventures and usage and put the battery on charge overnight this is not really an issue.
For the majority of parents that are not so well organized and often face an impatient child that must use their uncharged vehicle and use it now, you may want to consider buying one of the rechargers that allow for a fast charge.
Broadly speaking, although specs do vary, the fast charge capable Power Wheels battery chargers will charge the battery to 80% capacity in two hours, which represents a considerable improvement. However, you should note that for battery longevity, it is recommended that a full charge be completed every other time. Nevertheless, this is a really handy and useful feature to look for on a new charger that usually doesn't increase the price of the actual charger anyway.
LED Indicator Lights
Power Wheels batteries are lead acid types and are very susceptible to damage, depleting charge capacity and failure if not charged correctly. Any number of factors could compromise the effectiveness and usefulness of the battery, especially overcharging and undercharging.
Power Wheels battery chargers are available that take the guess work out of much of the damage causing mistakes by simply including some simple LED lights on it to indicate certain events. Lights warn you when the battery is fully charged, partly charged, fully depleted or your battery is now faulty. Handy really and usually at no extra cost.
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