Trouble getting NEW ( 6 mons old) batteries charged

Big Dawg

Bought a 1999 ezgo cart 36v ,battries dead over the winter, were new in april 2010,having trouble charging battries !! Ive been charging one battery at a time , can't get but 26.7v on total volts,trying to get 28v so the charger will kick in.Old owner said they charged one at a time ,took over nite on each battery, am i on the rite path ?

BGW

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JohnnieB

Welcome to BGW.

Flooded Lead-Acid batteries self-discharge at about 1% per day and if they have been stored without being properly maintained for any significant length of time, the battery pack voltage is probably too low to turn on an automatic type Golf Cart Battery Charger.

Use a 12V car battery charger and charge the 6V batteries in 12v pairs for about an hour or so each pair and try again with 36V charger.

Hopefully, they are still serviceable, but you'll probably notice they aren't as good as they were when cart was stored last fall.

JohnnieB

Looks like you edited while I was typing my reply.

You are on the right path.

Make sure the plates aren't exposed, but only add enough water to cover plates until batteries are fully charged.
Use distilled water only.

Apparently, you are using a 6V charger. How many amps does it put out?


What are the individual battery voltages?
26.7V would be 4.45V each, which is mighty low after any charging at all.
I suspect some are in the 6V range and others are closer to nothing.

Good luck.

Big Dawg

Thanks ,i will try two 6v ,and charge in 12v mode. Before i read ,i added regular water to top off battries, will let you know the outcome !!! charger : 6v -6 amp,12v-2amp, 12v- 6amp. Im charging in 12v 2amp mode. Each battery is testing at about 3v per battery. Can i use a new digital charger ? Any remarks are appreciated .

JohnnieB

While batteries are charging, go to this site and read everything that has the word "Battery" in the title.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/

Depending on the mineral content, some tap water will kill batteries almost instantly, while other tap water is fairly benign, but unless you actually know the chemistry of the tap water, using distilled water is best.

If those batteries do come up enough to turn on the 36V charger, let them charge until the charger automatically turns off. Discharge the slightly, down to about 90% SoC, then recharge fully again. Keep charging fully and discharging slightly until the pack voltage (after resting six or mores hours) no longer increases.

That is basically the new battery break-in procedure, but it will sometimes help batteries with badly sulfated plates recover a little.

Big Dawg

Got 30.7volts total battery bank,still wont kick in charger,tried to move cart with peddle diddnt move ,could hear it shiften from fowered to reverce when i fliped switch. The meter by the keyshowes one red bad on full ,should'nt it have 5 or 6 red bars from empty to full,going from bottom to top,a full meter of lights ?? Still charging with car charger ,2 6v =12v ,12v-6 amps charge at a time.

simple man

If you are up North and those batteries froze, they are junk! I can't tell you how to determine if they froze or not, but I'm sure some of the guys that live up North will know!

Big Dawg

It came from Fort Wayne Ind. Batteries still have warrenty on them.But at 30.7v ,you would think it would run the cart some,it barely makes it movie .And why doesent the 36v charger kick in ? It's suppost to at 28v .

simple man

Some of the chargers may vary in the start up voltage. This is done so you can't connect it up to a 24V system and have the charger come on. 30.7V is dead! It may not even let the solenoid click. Here's a chart for specific gravity and state of charge. This will help you.
I would see if the warranty is valid. I honestly think, to replace them will be your best bet!

Rickochet

There are some State of Charge charts posted in various threads here. Just looking at one on my desk the lowest reading on my chart for a 36v pack is 34.5v which is only 10% charged so your pack is well below that.

Simple man beat me to the punch in the above post.