Non Car Related Question

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RPMagoo

RPMagoo

Just An Old Motorhead
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If this is not the place for this type of question - kick out the post -- I'll understand. -- I have a, 2003, Club Car Golf Cart with 48 Volt, Interstate Batteries. The batteries are supposedly (??) less than 2 years old. - When I charge the batteries the indicator, on the dash, goes to full charge, but after 15 hours of charging the charger only drops to 6 Volts, and does not shut off. - It should shut off when the batteries are fully charged. -- Am I headed for replacement batteries ?
 
Disconnect them all and do a voltage test on each battery. You have one bad battery.
I used to maintain a battery bank at a remote location, battery failure was common. Had 3 banks at 24 volts. One battery would cause genset to run continous and reserve capacity was dramatically reduced.
Match your existing batteries as close as possible.
 
Do you have any friends with the same type cart where you could borrow their battery charger to see if it acts the same? We have a 2008 Club Car Precedent at the beach, and the charger shuts off when it's done. We've had the cart 2 years, and the batteries were 2 years old when we got it. It has an idiot light instead of a gauge, and after a full charge....the light is now coming on and staying on a minute or so after the key is cut off after a ride. It hasn't quit on us, but I'm gonna put new batteries in it this winter when I bring it home. I don't want it to strand my wife if she's out taking the dogs for a walk....er, uh, ride thru the campground!
 
Had them tested. - 4 of the 6 were defective (very weak).
 
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RPMagoo said:
-- Had them tested. - 4 of the 6 were defective. --
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-- BAD NEWS -- Took it to a shop, got new batteries (6, 8 volt, U.S. Battery). Put them on the charger (Club Car - Power Drive 3) started at 15 amps and slowly, over 6+ hours, went down to 6+ amps and is hung up, there, for the past 2+ hours. It should go below 5 amps and shut off. -- This is the same place where it was hung up last night, for several hours. -- Bad charger - OR -- ?? Back to the shop, in the morning.
 
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If they are not maintenance free and you can add electrolyte to them, try it. It's very cheap. if they are low, fill them up and recharge them and see what happens.
 
Wonder if they tested the new batteries?
Back when i sold auto parts,we never tested batteries. Until one bad battery went over the counter. I personally drove 30 miles with a new one and an apology. Never let another battery out without testing it first.that was the only one i ever sold that was defective. Out of 1000 plus units.
 
Could also be a bad cable. should do a voltage drop on each cable to verify. A bad cable can lead to a couple of batteries not charging fully, then repeat charge cycles a couple of time and battery will not take a full charge.
 
Tooljunkie said:
Wonder if they tested the new batteries?
Back when i sold auto parts,we never tested batteries. Until one bad battery went over the counter. I personally drove 30 miles with a new one and an apology. Never let another battery out without testing it first.that was the only one i ever sold that was defective. Out of 1000 plus units.
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Yep, I have gotten 2 bad batteries in a row out of the same store. There were marks on the white plastic cases where they had been banged around and broken some plates in side each battery. The broken plates internally shorted the batteries, and the 1st one almost caught my 1st race car on fire while it was setting in my parents' carport.

OP, I would have guessed a battery with a shorted cell from your initial description. I'd do myself a favor and do what is recommended in post #2: Go get a decent voltmeter; disconnect the charger when it it gets to a steady state charging condition, then disconnect all 6 batteries, and let them 'rest' for an hour. Then test the voltage across the terminals of all 6 batteries, 1 battery at a time. They all should show the same voltage within + or - 0.1 volt. Let us know what you find.

The diagnosis of 'weak' from your battery supplier is not much info. You can learn more yourself with a simple voltage test. Using a battery hydrometer is another step of diagnosis.
 
Before you "trash" the batteries try adding a teaspoon of epson salt to each cell and then charge at low rate for 24 hours. I have managed to revive batteries for some time by doing that.
Yote
 
are these deep cycle batteries, or regular auto batteries? Are you regularly running them low and letting the cart sit for days, weeks, before fully (15+ hrs) charging them? Sulfation occurs as any SLA battery is discharging, but recharging it breaks that up. If the sulfation is allowed to sit for an extended time, it hardens, and reduces the performance of the battery. Does your Club Car charger have an automatic desulfation mode? If so, that may be why it isn't kicking off and "hanging up". It may be intentionally attempting to overcharge the battery for 16-24hrs to recondition it.
 
JoeSBP said:
-- (1) are these deep cycle batteries, or regular auto batteries? -- (2) Are you regularly running them low and letting the cart sit for days, weeks, before fully (15+ hrs) charging them? --
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-- (1) Deep cycle. -- (2) New Batteries didn't run the cart, since installed. -- Update -- The service Man told Me that I didn't give the charger enough time (11 hrs.) to do it's thing, with new batteries. -- I plugged it back in - went shopping, and when I returned, after a few hours, the charger was off. -- Since then I ran the cart for approx. 1 hr. - plugged in the charger, and it worked properly, eventually it shut off. -- To sum this up -- I had 4 of 6 bad Interstate batteries. -- I replaced them with 6 new, U.S Battery Co. batteries. -- All batteries are 6 - 8 volt = 48 volt total. -- Looks like - problem solved. -- Thanks to All, for Your input.
 
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Glad I could help......... Wait! I never said a word. Just sat back and watched. But if I can sneak in and get some credit? Sure why not? Lol
 
You need to paint it Plum Crazy or Petty Blue & get a 43 & STP sticker on it quick. Lol
 
I have a potentially dumb question. To get 48 volts, do golf carts use four 12 volt batteries or eight 6 volt batteries? Never popped the 'hood' on a golf cart.
 
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