Charging Debate

[Jeff Rose]

Hello,
Light use of the cart and then it sits for a week. Do I charge it every time or let it run down to about 70% and then charge it?
I have done a lot of research on this topic and have seen a couple of different responses so I would like some input.
I just got an older electric Hyundai (I know) with a mish/mash of older batteries. Now I realize from my research that the batteries should not be mixed but a new set is just not in the cards right now. We will not use the cart much anyway so run time is not really a concern. We will just run on this mixed set until they finally give up.
So, do we charge it every time, or do we run it down a little? If we charge it every time, how long should I charge it for? It will be left unmonitored on a timer.
Thanks,
Jeff (first post by the way)

[scottyb]

Hey Jeff, welcome to bgw!

Trojan Battery Co. says the golf cart battery can take 5000 shallow cycles and 700 deep cycles.

Especially on older batteries which are less efficient I would recharge immediately after any discharge of 15%.
Per the manufacture recommendation, I would never discharge below 50% and I would check the water levels often.

These are the manufactures recommendations so there really is no debate

[scottyb]

Here is the chart I got from Trojan Battery CO when I inquired about frequent charging versus deep discharge in terms of battery life.

[Jeff Rose]

That chart tells me all I need to know--Thanks