How to Choose Floor Scrubber Battery Capacity (2026 Guide)

How to Choose Floor Scrubber Battery Capacity (2026 Guide)

When people compare floor scrubbers, they talk about brush width and coverage. But the number that decides whether the machine actually finishes the shift is battery capacity — the Ah rating on the pack. Choose too little and the machine dies two hours before the work is done. Choose far more than you need and you're paying for capacity you'll never use, plus extra weight and longer charge times. This guide explains what battery capacity really means, how the packs in the TerraScrub range compare, and how to match capacity to your cleaning hours.

What Ah Actually Means

Ah stands for amp-hours, and it measures how much energy the battery can deliver over time. Two things matter when you read a battery spec:

• Voltage and Ah together define the pack. A 24V/100Ah battery holds less total energy than a 36V/460Ah pack. That's why the large A17's battery is in a different class from a walk-behind's — it's not just more amp-hours, it's more voltage too.
• Runtime depends on the load. A heavier machine with stronger brush and vacuum motors draws more current, so the same Ah can deliver different runtime on different machines. Machine weight, brush pressure, and floor conditions all affect how fast the pack drains.

This is why battery capacity should be matched to the machine and the job together, not compared in isolation.

Battery Capacity Across the TerraScrub Range

The pattern is simple: as machines get heavier and floors get larger, capacity grows with them. A 100Ah pack on a walk-behind is normal; the same capacity on a machine that cleans 7,000 m²/h would be useless.

Matching Capacity to Your Cleaning Hours

• One to two hours a day: a standard 100Ah machine is plenty. Buying a bigger pack adds weight and charge time for no benefit.
• Most of a shift, every day: step up to 120Ah or 200Ah. This is where runtime becomes the limiting factor instead of cleaning speed.
• Continuous industrial cleaning: the 36V/460Ah class, built for 7–8 hours on floors measured in tens of thousands of square meters.
• Multi-shift operations: capacity per machine matters less than the rotation — plan charging so every shift gets a full pack, as covered in our fleet management guide.

Bigger Is Not Automatically Better

Two costs come with larger capacity:

• Weight. Bigger packs are heavier, and on walk-behind machines the operator feels every kilogram over a long shift.
• Charge time. More capacity generally means longer charging, which matters if the machine is needed again in a few hours.

The right capacity is the one that covers your longest cleaning session with margin — not the biggest pack on the price list. If you clean three hours a day, a 460Ah machine is the wrong purchase regardless of how impressive it looks.

Capacity Only Delivers If the Battery Is Cared For

A well-maintained 100Ah pack will outlast a neglected 200Ah one. Lead-acid batteries lose capacity when they're left discharged, charged partially, or charged with the wrong charger. The rules are simple: charge fully after every shift, don't store discharged, and follow the manufacturer's routine. Our charging guide and battery care guide cover both.

Common Questions

How long does a 100Ah floor scrubber battery last?

It depends on the machine and how hard it's working. On a mid-size walk-behind doing normal cleaning, a 100Ah pack covers a standard medium-duty session. Heavier machines and dirtier floors draw more current and shorten that.

Is 200Ah twice the runtime of 100Ah?

Not exactly. Doubling capacity increases available energy, but runtime also depends on the machine's load, weight, and floor conditions. It's a meaningful step up, not a linear doubling of hours.

What capacity do I need for two shifts a day?

Capacity alone won't solve two shifts — you need a charging rotation or more than one machine. Our fleet guide explains how to plan it.

Will a bigger battery make a machine clean better?

No. Battery capacity affects how long you can clean, not how well. Cleaning performance comes from brush pressure, chemistry, and technique — the subject of our brush pressure guide.

Bottom Line

Battery capacity is a runtime decision, not a performance one. Match the pack to your longest cleaning session, add a little margin, and keep the battery healthy with a proper charging routine. A 100Ah walk-behind like the BA530, a 120Ah BA730, a 200Ah BA860, or the 460Ah A17 each exist for a reason — pick the one that matches your hours, and our walk-behind comparison shows where the rest of the range sits.