When and how often should I charge my batteries

[devybob]

I have a 42 volt western cart that charges to 44.2 volts 6 hours after being fully charged. I use the cart for a lot of short distances in the community ( 1/2 to 1 1/2 miles) and I want to know at what level of voltage I should turn on the charger. I know I should keep the batteries charged, but I don't believe I should charge it after each trip. At what point of voltage would i not let it get below.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by devybob

I have a 42 volt western cart that charges to 44.2 volts 6 hours after being fully charged. I use the cart for a lot of short distances in the community ( 1/2 to 1 1/2 miles) and I want to know at what level of voltage I should turn on the charger. I know I should keep the batteries charged, but I don't believe I should charge it after each trip. At what point of voltage would i not let it get below.

I'm not quite sure what the red highlighted statement means.

If a 42V battery pack is dropping to 44.2V when the pack only sits for 6 hours after the charger shuts off, you have some battery and/or charger issues. At best, your batteries are only being charged to about 90% SoC.

After sitting about 12 hours after the charger shuts off, a healthy 42V pack should drop to 44.6V. (That is for Trojan batteries - a bit higher for Exide and higher still for US Battery)

Unless you make a lot of short trips, your pack probably never gets anywhere near the 50% SoC (42.4V) you should never go below, so you could probably get away with just plugging it in every night.

If the pack voltage is getting down to 43.5V during the day, I'd plug it in at mid-day.

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FWIW: Plugging the charger in after the cart has been driven a mile or more won't overcharge the batteries.

However, they might use more water, so keep an eye on the electrolyte level.