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OK new to the world of golf carts, just bought one for my wife to ride the grandkids around in. It is a 2005 36 volt model. The man that sold it said that it would need batteries. The batteries are Trojan without any date on them that I can find, he had just added water to them before he put it up for sale. After getting it home and charging them for about 4 hours I had almost 40 volts reading on my cheap volt meter. Let sit overnight and rechecked with volt meter, about 39 volts. Each 6 volt battery showed about 6.5 volts. took it for a ride around the yard and after about 10 minutes it started slowing down, parked it and checked the batteries all were still about 6.4 volts after sitting for 10 minutes. Hooked my volt meter to the output wire of the batteries and got about 38.5 volts. Left the volt meter hooked up and went for a ride, the volts dropped down to about 37 volts for about 1/2 minute going down a small incline then as the cart started up the small incline they went to about 32 volts then to 30 volts at which time I stopped and let it rest for 10 minutes then rode it to the car port. The voltage now reads about 37 volts. Before buying new batteries does the readings that I have taken prove that the batteries need to be replaced or do I need to check other things before replacing them. I bought the cart knowing that I would need to replace the batteries but just don't want to replace them to find out they are not the problem. How far should a new set of 36 volt batteries drive this cart?I have read that Trojans are good battieries and should last about 8 years. Any info would be nice to recieve. Thanks TC
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On Trojan's there is a number stamped in the lead on the flat of the battery post. That is the year. A 4 hour charge is not enough will need at least 10. It should charge at about 18 to 20 amps then start tapering down to about 3 to 5 amp at full charge. A good set of batteries will last about 2 hours run time. You could have just one or two batteries that are cause the low current output, you need to test each battery under load to get a good reading. This is a great system for just that http://www.golfcartsforum.com/golf-c...batteries.html Another good investment is a hydrometer to check each cell specific gravity. Plug in the charger and let it go until it shuts off. Longevity of the batteries is only as good as they are taken care of. Proper charging and water kept up. Make sure your cable are clean and tight. Cold temps will drastically affect performance also. -
Thanks for the info, the Trojan batteries have 05 stamped in the lead so they may be the ones that came with it new. It has a EZ-GO Textron Power Wise charger with it. I put the charger back on and it started out at about 17 amps, just went out there to check it after about 2 hours of charging and it was down to a 7 amp charge, while I was looking at it the charger shut off on its own. Checked it with the volt meter and it was reading 40 volts. Will let it sit for about a hour, the charger is still hooked up but has not came back on. Planning on getting a hydrometer. Thanks TCComment
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The only way it will come back on is to unplug it and plug it back in. The batteries are probably at the end of their useful life, being OEComment
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Thanks for all the replys, I just got back with a hydrometer and 4 of the 6 batteries have one bad cell each below1.2. These cells all had some black trash in them when I drew up the liquid into the hydrometer. So looks like they had a good run of about 9 years. I drove it again with the same results of about 10 minutes of run time before they ran down. Time to buy new batteries, which was known when buying it. I do not want to burn up a motor. Thanks for all the help. TCComment
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Yep they are tired. You should get about a $20.00 core for each. New batteries are not cheap. Good LuckComment
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Make sure you buy TrojansComment
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