Spark or popping when plugging charger to scooterUpdated 13 days ago

Spark or Popping When Plugging Charger into Your Scooter

Overview

This article explains why you may experience a spark or popping sound when plugging your charger into your scooter and provides guidance on what to expect. Understanding this behaviour helps you avoid unnecessary concern and ensures safe charging practices.

Understanding the Cause of Sparks or Popping

You may notice a spark or popping sound when you connect your charger to your scooter. This occurs due to residual energy stored in the charger's internal capacitor.

1. When you disconnect the charger from the AC power source, the capacitor inside the charger retains energy for 10–15 seconds before it fully discharges to 0V.
2. If you reconnect the charger to your scooter's charging port while the charger is not plugged into an AC power source, the scooter's battery will transfer voltage to recharge the charger's capacitor.
3. This rapid transfer of energy causes a brief spark at the contact point.
4. Once the capacitor is recharged, you will not see another spark until the capacitor fully discharges again.

💡 Tip: To minimize or avoid sparks, always plug the charger into the AC power source before connecting it to your scooter.

Frequency of This Issue

• Sparks or popping sounds are much more common with legacy Apollo scooter models.
• You may experience this occasionally with newer models, but it is less frequent.

⚠️ Note: This behaviour is normal and results from the charger's design to protect your scooter's battery by reducing output ripple.

Still Need Help?

If you've followed these steps and are still experiencing issues, please contact our support team with the following information:

• Description of the issue
• Steps you've already tried
• Your scooter model and charger details