New to the Cart World

Schmidty9875

Well I found an old cart in the parents garage, and figured it would be great for my camper. After a few searches I managed to figure out its a 97' club car ds(4 volts. After another few searches I realized the world of carts is very overwhelming. I'm wondering if anyone would be able to tell me where I need to start. I have no charger, no manual, 6 of the 8volt batteries, and if it's even worth bringing this hunk of junk back to life. I can say all the plastics and seats are in good shape, and I see tires are easily purchased all over the internet. But I'm not sure what year range of parts I can purchase, or any recommendations on sites to use would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all.

BGW

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TahoeDawgZ71

You've definitely found the right place. There are lots of site sponsors here that would love to help you out. Each of us sells a little bit of different stuff. Together, we all make a heck of a team. You just let us know what you want and we'll help you figure out the best way to put it all together.

Schmidty9875

The most important thing I need right now is the charger. I have seen them range from $100 to $500 and 2amps to 15 amps. What do I really need to get a good charge?

Dragracer_Art

I just picked up my 95 DS a few weeks ago and resurrected it from the dead.

The batteries were ALL stone cold dead... as in ZERO volts.

Slow and determined charging brought them back to life.

I cleaned up the rest of the cart, adjusted the brakes and got all the lights working again.

It's good as new now.

Eventually I will put a new set of batteries in it, but for now they are holding a charge and running just fine for what I use it for.


I'd say go for it.

Try to revive the batteries if you can.
If not... drop a fresh set in it and go from there.

I will also suggest supporting the site vendors here. They are quite helpful and are always giving great tech advice.

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TahoeDawgZ71

You have the option of finding a good used PowerDrive, PowerDrive2, or PowerDrive3 charger and using that. You must have a good working On-board computer on the cart to do this. Option B is what I would recommend. The DPI Accusense charger will work on your cart if you bypass and remove the On-board computer from the cart. It's the best option in the long run as the OBC can cause lots of problems. The most popular choice is the DPI from Cartsunlimited (scottyb). He's a site sponsor.

Schmidty9875

Thanks for the help, I've checked out both your sites.

TahoeDawgZ71

joesam

The 48 volt '97 DS was built in a number of different drive variants. If you provide the serial number (high on floorboard - passenger side); people on this site will be able to make very specific recommendations as to how best for you to proceed with "restoration". If the frame/steering is solid (sounds like it is, what with plastic & seats good) - it could be turned back into a nice/reliable ride.

klubber

One thing to read up on. If you are not going to buy new batteries right away and try to recharge the dead ones, you will not be able to just plug in a new charger. There are several videos about bringing old batteries back if they have life left. You can use a simple 12v car charger.

Schmidty9875

Perfect, I have it written down at work. I will post it tomorrow morning.