Mystery Wire

[Supersquid]

I was working on my Club Car last weekend and found a wire that looks like it might be important. The black wire looks like it has been pulled away from whatever it connects to in the front part of the cart. Anyone have any thoughts on what this wire should connect with? I cannot find the disconnected wire on the wiring diagram for the cart, so my best guess is that it is a voltage reducer that was used to connect to lights or other accessories. I have noticed my batteries have gotten a lot weaker but that could just be age. Thank you as always for your help.

[Fairtax4me]

If it goes to that rectangular box with the tan color epoxy resin in it, that's a factory 16-12v voltage reducer for 12v lights and accessories. They're not good for the pack unless you rotate which batteries the reducer and accessories are hooked to.
If you have any lights or other 12V accessories you need to get a 48-12v reducer so the accessories draw from the entire pack, and not just 2 of the batteries. Over time those two batteries get out of balance with the rest of the pack and are constantly undercharged, while the other batteries are getting over charged.

You also need to CLEAN those batteries. All that damp dirt and crud on top of the batteries allows small amounts of current to flow from post to post across the top of the battery and that causes the battery to self discharge at a faster the normal rate, and it causes corrosion of your terminals and cable ends. And it also causes corrosion of your battery trays. Just spraying all the dust and junk off with a hose every few weeks will keep that from happening and keep your batteries in much better shape.

[Supersquid]

Very Helpful! thank you, I will clean up the batteries tonight. How bad is it if some of the batteries are out of water? I checked a few of the batteries last night and one was bone dry. Can it be saved?

[Fairtax4me]

You can add water to just cover the plates, charge it and see if the voltage sits at the same level as the other batteries.

More than likely that one battery has significant sulfation on the plates and has caused some of the plates to short together. It is self discharging and slowly boiling its water away.
How old are those batteries? You will probably be better off replacing the entire pack.

[Supersquid]

The batteries are about 5 years old. Can I replace them 2 at a time? I don't have 700 dollars to dump into the cart at this time. Thanks again for your help

[CP241]

Note to add distilled water

Tap water has minerals and stuff in it that's not good for the batteries.


I would recommend limping them along as best you can and replace the whole pack at once. You can get a full set for around $500 if you shop around. Don't be afraid to haggle with the shops... They want to make a sale as much as you want your cart to work :) Replacing just a couple at a time will result in a mismatched pack, and like before, some will be undercharged while others will be overcharging and it will wear the new ones quite a bit faster than if you replaced them all at once.

[CP241]

A little reading to help prevent it from happening again once you do get the batteries replaced

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...batteries.html

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/attac...tery-guide.pdf

[Fairtax4me]

I would not recommend replacing only two at a time, unless you don't use the cart at all between now and when you get the last two.

Charge those that you have. Top off the water levels in each cell so its just below the bottom lip of the fill hole. Check the voltage on each battery 12 hours after charging and then drive the cart the way you normally would for the day. Let it rest about 20-30 minutes after use and check the voltage on each battery again.