Battery no water again
 

I installed new batteries 3 weeks ago. I have charged them 2 times so far. I hooked batteries up to charger last night and went into my building this morning and got that awful scent like the last time the water was out and I screwed my batteries up. I checked and 5 out of 6 were empty. I have no clue if these brand new batteries are toast. Why is this happening? Looks like I need to check the acid/water every time before charging. I am sick to the stomach thinking these brand new batteries are toast.

Re: Battery no water again
 

first you add water after charging ... they may not be toast .. fill them to 1/2" over plates
new batteries need lots of water when charging but low water won't kill them
its normal to be low after charging ... the smell is also normal

Re: Battery no water again
 

What type of charger do you have , ? That's where I would look first , is charger operating correctly ? :thumbup: the batteries should not go dry that quickly

Re: Battery no water again
 

Your charger might not be cutting off as it should and is overcharging the batteries. Or you may need to charge them more often. I don't think charging them twice every three weeks is enough if you use your cart regularly. Next time you charge them check on the time takes and battery voltage at various times while charging. I would suspect your charger has some problem.

Re: Battery no water again
 

I think the guys are right. I think you have a charger/charging issue. I use the cart every day the weather allows. I charge it every time I park it. Put new batteries in September 2012 and have not had to add water yet. I check it every week but so far no water needed.

Re: Battery no water again
 

Brand new batteries must be broken in properly if you expect them to last a normal service life.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Batter...n_Methods.html

Having new batteries installed 3 weeks ago and only charging them twice indicated you only rode the cart once. I think that isn't the case here as the water is below the battery plates when you checked it.

Deeply discharged batteries gas more then shallow discharged batteries. I believe you rode the cart many time and discharged the batteries to a very low level before charging. That could explain some of the water loss.

What brand and voltage batteries did you buy and what model charger do you have?

Re: Battery no water again
 

You have a parenting opportunity here. :mrgreen:
Your little bunny needs to learn to plug her cart in after each use, or at least every night after it has been used during the day.

Of course Papa Rabbit will have to learn the proper care and feeding of batteries to teach her the responsibilities of cart ownership...

Re: Battery no water again
 

I have only charged it 2 times, she has only road it 2 times also because it has rained so much here. I am trying to follow the break in precedure I found here. How do check the charger for problems?

Re: Battery no water again
 

I would start with what is the pack voltage on charge. After a full charge, unplug and re plug charger. Wait a few minutes and check total pack voltage. On a 36v cart, the voltage should be around 45v. On a 48v cart, should be around 59-60v

Re: Battery no water again
 

What is the Make/Model of batteries?
What is the Make/Model of the charger?
How much water had to be added?
Where the plates exposed to air?
Was anything other than distilled water added to batteries?

Typically, the battery voltage starts at whatever the battery was discharged to and increases over time until the pack voltage reaches about 45V (for a 36V Battery pack) and charger shuts off.

The ammeter on many chargers quickly climbs to the changer's rated output when it turns on and stays there until the pack voltage reaches about 42V and the ammeter starts declining down to about 5A to 8A and then continues to decline as the pack voltage increases. Heavy gassing will also start occurring at about 42V and will continue until charger shuts off.

Apparently, your charger is staying in the gassing phase too long for some reason. If it is a classic golf cart battery charger, it might be a bad control board, so the charger isn't shutting off when the shutoff voltage is reached, or a bad capacitor, so the shutoff voltage isn't being reached.

If course, there might be another reason. Have to know charger type and make some tests to find out for sure.