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Old 11-11-2009, 07:43 PM   #1
Jblack
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Default 48 club car short battery life

MY buddy has a 02 club car that will not hold a charge. New batteries 3 three years ago, 6 8volt batteries. He has maybe 10-15 total hours on it. This thing will not hold a charge for more than one day,or around maybe 10-12 miles. It has a 5.5hp motor. Not sure about the controller. Now it is heavier than most, it has the H1 hummdinger body,lift kit, 23 tires. When it
s fully charged it runs great.
What is the first thing to check out, a diagnostic test to run to figure out what is going on. Just need to get some advice to trya nd figure out what's wrong...batteries, cables, some other component. I'm a gasser guy, so I don't know a whole lot about electric carts.

Thanks
John
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Old 11-11-2009, 09:12 PM   #2
scottyb
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

Running a cart 12 hours in 3 years is not enough to keep the batts exercised... they must be sitting inactive for extended periods of time and if left in a state of discharge ( even partial) For these extended periods of inactivity, the batteries can become compromised... A Specific gravity meter with a temperature compensating feature is a reliable way to test the batteries health. That is where I would start... these batteries should be test a few hours or even the next day after charging.... charging creates false surface readings... so that's a good place to start. Keep in mind a stock cart will run 90 minutes. Your motor is 2xs the stock motor and your tires are considerably larger both of these will result in reduced run time......
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Old 11-12-2009, 07:09 AM   #3
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

So what is he looking for with that test? Do you test each battery one cell at a time or the whole system? Is there a range for 8volts ? If one cell is lower than the other is the battery toast?

I did see something on another thread about breaking in new batteries. It sounds like they need to be charged often and not run down below 50%. I know that he didn't follow anything like that. Could that of doomed the batteries from the start?
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Old 11-12-2009, 08:41 AM   #4
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

The short answer is Yes.

Batteries will lose a charge just sitting especially if the batteries are still connected to the cart. There will be some leakage.

So if he only used the cart like 10 to 15 hrs. And in that time ever since the batteries were new all he did was run the cart till it wouldn't run without checking the state of charge he killed the batteries as soon as he bought them.

I from what I have seen about break in etc. I believe the first 30 to 50 cycles on a golf cart battery you shouldn't go past 20% discharge. Which is not a very long trip. On a stock cart like scotty said run time is 90 mins. So just to make it simple 20% of that time is 18 mins. So that would be run the cart for 20 mins and then plug it in.

now like scotty stated he was running twice the motor. So his run time would be reduced more. So he should have ran it for say 9 - 10 mins and then pluged it in.

Now I don't know if you could say on a saturday. Spend the day running the cart for 20 mins charge it wait an hour after the charger stops and ride it again or not. But it sounds like that would be the way to do it.

Just my thoughts and interpretation. So ya your friend has what seems to be an expensive set of paper weights at this time.

My advice would be for him to look at going with 8 6v batteries if he needs more run time.

Good luck.
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Old 11-12-2009, 09:12 AM   #5
golfcarfixer
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

The 8-6volt Batteries Is A Good Idea,my New Cars Have That Set-up,a 5.5hp Motor And A Programmable 400amp Curtis Controller.they Have A Long Run Time.
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Old 11-12-2009, 09:36 AM   #6
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

The SG readings are in this chart below. Yes, 1 bad cell can weaken a battery considerably and yea 1 weakened battery can shorten the useful life of the pack. Like a chain with a weak link True true true readings can only be had with a temperature compensating hydrometer or by taking readings with the battery at 70* and washing out the hydrometer between cells .... But for all general purposes you can just run through the bunch looking for weak or low readings ...Good Luck
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File Type: jpg StateofChargeChart.jpg (53.8 KB, 6 views)
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Old 11-12-2009, 10:27 AM   #7
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

Thanks for the help so far guys! I will pass on the info to him.

The more he's thinking, he's almost ready to buy a gasser and swap over the body and not have to worrry about batteries anymore..lol
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Old 11-12-2009, 10:42 AM   #8
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

Battery carts are not for everyone
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Old 11-12-2009, 11:04 AM   #9
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

PS: if he has a cart with OBC and Power Drive or Power Drive Plus charger he can leave it plugged into the cahrger all the time !!
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Old 11-12-2009, 12:28 PM   #10
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Default Re: 48 club car short battery life

I am restricted to electric cart bc of the campgrounds I goto. They don't want gassers running around the camp ground at 2 am etc. Not all gassers are loud, but there will always be that guy to ruin it for everyone.

But there are electric carts that show up at ocean lakes running 40 also

So ya. He should get a cart that fits what he is using the cart for.
Just remember this new ethanol blend fuel they are selling is hell on carbs that sit for a long period of time.
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