battery testing help info

cbpeps

I have a couple of threads going trying to determine if I have a battery problem or a problem with the way my curtis controller is programmed. I have driven the cart to where the guage reads 23%, then done load test on each battery, tested the cells in each battery, and all reads good. Before replacing the controller with an alltrax or something I can work with, would there be any other tests I can do to definitely rule out the possibility of a problem with the batteries.

BGW

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OLD MEC

First of all what year and model of club car do you have, if in doubt give us the serial number under passenger side glove compartment.
Next what guage are you talking about? If you have a % of charge meter you are way below battery empty at 23%, which should never be below 50% as that is dead?
What were your readings on each cell ( see Sticky above for readings ) and did you use a hydrometer with temperature correcting scale OR one of the cheap multy ball units that are only good for antifreeze? Were your tests done after adding distilled water and before charging up as this will effect readings. Also you should wait at least 2 hours after charging to do any tests to allow batterys to level off.

cbpeps

The cart is a club car frame with everything being replaced or rebuilt. It has an 18 hp ac motor, Curtis 1236 350amp ac controller, Curtis multifunction guage, and 8 6 volt Trojan 105 Mileage Master batteries. On this occasion after the cart dropped into limp home at what it thought was 24% I went home and the guage now read 23%. I used an Autocraft hydrometer, all cells were in blue range, I didn't write down number though. The load test was done with a 10 second 130 amp load tester. Batteries were in 5.70 to 5.74 range. These tests were done with batteries as is, no charging done. I was trying to see actual capacity after controller thought they were down to 23%

roady89

Actually, 80% is usually considered dead. Depends on which school you went to. Either way, if you keep taking them down to 23-24% they'll be toast in no time. I suspect you have bad batteries. No battery will last that long taking them down that deep.

cbpeps

This was only the third time the guage went that low since batteries were new one year ago; The trip I made, 6 miles on flat roads to the golf course, 18 holes golf, return home is very typical for what we do here, Most carts are well over 50 % for this trip. I just haven't been using my cart when we play that course. The reading my guage gives is based on algorithms programmed into the controller. My neighbor has a Star cart that is supposed to go 15mph in slow mode. His would do 10. The technician came out, found a bad parameter, programmed the right one and now it goes 15. Another one had a recall on his ac powered EZ-GO. The recall was for a software change to make it go further and improve pickup. I can't find a tecnician that can read what is programmed into my Curtis controller. So when my guage reads 23% I can't tell if that is real and the batteries have no capacityor only what the controller says because of bad software.

rib33024

How about dead---5.70

cbpeps

Thanks, that is a very good chart and I will keep it for future reference. However the 5.70 I was referring to came from the load tester. This load tester puts a 130 amp load on the battery when it gives the reading. I believe the chart is referring to open circuit voltage which is the voltage with no load on it. The chart that came with the load tester calls anything above 5.00 good with the 130 amp load on it

cbpeps

If I was to do a series of tests on specific gravity and open circuit voltage say when the guage read 90%, 80%, 70% etc would that be a valid test for determining if the batteries or the controller ws bad.

rib33024

charge the batteries to full, let them sit for 4 or 5 hours and then do your test if you want a true reading

cbpeps

I think it's time to throw in the towel and pay someone to come out and do a full blown load test on them I'm also considering taking the Curtis controller out and getting an Alltrax that I can program the way I want. I haven't looked into it yet, but will start