Battery problems

Electrician

I think my batteries are bad from all I have read, just trying to confirm it will determine the rest of my build.

all batteries read 6.6v during and after charge, after a cool down period of about 6 hours they read 6 or 6.1v

what do yall think?

BGW

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum

Coltf1991

Batteries are bad.

But to be certain put the volt meter on each battery and drive it see what they drop to under a load.

Also invest in a hydrometer and test each cell individually

Post results.

JohnnieB

6.0V to 6.1V after a 6hr rest tells me your batteries are only taking a 50% to 60% charge. Not good, that is for sure.

You most likely need a new set of batteries.

Just curious, what charger do your have?
I ask because the automatic chargers have to sense in the 44-46V range to shut off (or they time out at about 12 hrs) and you said you had 6.6V during and after charge.
Could be that you didn't measure right before and right after the charger shut-off or something like that.

Also, Between now and when you get your new batteries, You might try charging the daylights out of your existing battery set.
I got some improvement by repeatedly charging "Fully" charged batteries, but mine were charging to about 85% rather 50%.

Take a look in the Trojan user's guide and read what they say about equalization. (Trojan Battery User's Guide -)

Good Luck.

Electrician

they charge according to the timer for 14-17hrs. I have a bunch of trickle chargers, I am trying them on each battery. It does not seem to make a difference so far.

what makes a battery swell on the sides?

Electrician

my charger is the origonal ezgo has amp-meter and timer that keeps track of charge hours.

I have not seen the amp meter move yet, what should it do.?

Coltf1991

Light swelling is normal but the plates can actually warp on the inside and cause this also. But if the battery hold downs are really tight the will swell up.

JohnnieB

If possible, please post picture of front of charger. EZGO had at least two with ammeter and timer, some were automatic, others weren't. Nutty thing is that there is one with a black faceplate that's labeled an automatic charger, but isn't.

If the Ammeter doesn't move, chances are the charger isn't charging your battery pack. As low as your batteries are, it should jump into the 25A range and stay there for several hours. With trickle chargers (2A?), It would take a very long time (days?) to charge batteries from a 50% SoC.

Before springing for a new set of batteries, it might be a good idea to find out if your 36V charger will, in fact, charge them.

Attached is a generic diagram of an automatic 36V charger with a two wire output cable. If yours is a manual one, there's a timer instead of a relay and neither the electronic control inside the dotted lines nor the Red and Black wires coming from it, exist. Other than that, the basic charger circuit is about the same, give or take a fuse or circuit breaker.

The easiest way to find out if the charger is working properly is the try it on a different cart, or try a different charger on your cart.
If that isn't possible, try turning on the charger when it isn't connected to the cart.
If it is a manual one, there should be over 50VDC across the output plug contacts.
If it is an automatic one, we'll have to open it up and play some games.

Let me know what you find.

Attached Images

Generic Charger - Auto Shutoff - Two Wire Plug.JPG (41.5 KB, 15 views)

scottyb

All batteries 'swell' with usage. Heat is the culprit. The plastic case actually slumps. It is a rough indicator of two things. 1st being age and second condition, because the older they get, the less effectively batteries recharge the longer and hotter they get charged.

Trickle chargers are of little use to batteries with a low state of charge such as yours.
If they have sat like this for some time or not been properly recharged for some time. As in the use of trickle or solar chargers. They may be stratified and all the good stuff is left on the bottom in which case you will need a good 35-30 amp charge to gas & remix the battery 'water' compound.

I hope this helps

Electrician

Still trying to figure out the picture thing so hopefully the charger pic will be attached

Attached Images

Charger.jpg (140.6 KB, 20 views)

Electrician

charger runs a long time, puts on a slight charge. I have not seen the ampmeter move. All of this is new to me, but has been in my family so it did work