Quote:
Originally Posted by imaeyeguy
Thanks to all for the replies.
Sounds like 48V charger may be in my future for ease of use as well as peace of mind. I am curious though if anyone has done some testing to see if a marine deep cycle charger (not automotive) like those used in bass boats that are designed to maintain trolling motor batteries would perform just as well on a 2x6v high amp hour battery system. The reason I'm interested is because I have one sitting in the garage and it would be a path of least resistance just to hook it up and run with it. I know that these onboard chargers are designed to maintain those batteries over extended times between uses as well as prevent sulfation. Since most boaters are as protective of their gear as the buggie world, they seem to be content as long as the charger is a good one.
I think I will conduct some tests to determine if it's feasible. I use my cart almost daily and will run some tests for a month of two to see if there are differences. Would measuring only voltage be sufficient or some other more precise measurement be recommended? If all batteries are measuring the same voltage over time, would that imply that they are all properly charged?
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Monitoring the SG (Specific Gravity) of the electrolyte in the cells would be better, but At-Rest voltage closely tracks SG and is much easier to measure.
At-Rest means the batteries have been resting (no charge or discharge) for ate least 12 hours. If the marine charger has a float or trickle charge after the regular cycle ends, it will have to be disconnected at about the same time the 36V charger shuts off.
What are the Make & Model of the 36V and the 12V chargers?