Is long term use of a trickle charger safe?

jsmith294

Our 48V 2003 CC Series DS has relatively new Trojan batteries, and I'd like to keep 'em in good shape. The cart is on North Captiva Island at a vacation house. I always water and fully charge the batteries before leaving, but the cart often sits 3-5 months between use.

The cart is in a small garage (no cars on this island) at ground level. If the cart catches fire, the whole darn house would burn down! How safe would it be to use a trickle charger with this cart under these conditions (warm to brutally hot Florida weather, not much ventilation, house unattended for 3-5 months at a time.

If the trickle charger is too risky, I might be able to impose upon a neighbor to put it on the charger periodically. Would once per month be enough to keep the batteries healthy?

Thanks!

BGW

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jjance

I wouldn't worry about them, it's not like they are going to freeze. We let ours go for 3-5 months in Plant City Fl never had any problems. We didn't even leave it plugged in. It was always ready to go when we got back.

jsmith294

Have you gotten good life out of the batteries?

Volt_Ampere

I would go with a trickle charger for sure. The batteries will last longer if you don't let them run down. They will run down if you leave the cart for months without charging it.

55BigBlock

I'm assuming since you cart is Series there is no run /tow switch. My suggestion is switch the cart off, place in neutral and disconnect the battery pack, then hook up a trickle charger. This would eliminate any possibility of a problem from wiring in the cart. That is about the best you can do unless you take the batteries out take them back to Ky. with you.

scottyb

An idle battery pack my loose as much as 1% of it's charge per day so that in 50 days it would be ready for a recharge. Additionally everybody who gives advice should be aware that battery plate stagnation begins below 90% charged. And sitting for weeks on end at 40-50% discharged is more devastating than simply drawing down to 50% and recharging. A float charge is the best option for long term storage.

jsmith294

Scotty, those are sobering statistics. Is there a float charger you recommend (and sell)?

scottyb

We use and sell the DPI charger with automatic float mode.... best thing about this charger is it initiates and full charge every month and maintains a float charge inbetween ....... and if the AC gets interrupted, it restarts itself.

MyCousinVinnie

I've had a DPI charger from Scotty for last few years. works great. Had one minor issue with it, and DPI took care of it through Scotty no problems. Great customer service. I'd definitely recommend it.