New to me cart struggling up hills and batts appear ok???

[top1000nole]

thanks for the input three.... I know these batts did not have the greatest maintenance and I bought the cart for cheap from a friend knowing that however I did not anticipate having to pull the trigger on all new batts for 800 bucks immediately.

Catch is I know the "good" ones a not long of this operational world now by looking at that chart so as much as I would just like to replace the one and see how it does I feel that would be a waste of money. Not sure what I am going to do at this point.

[ThreeCW]

Originally Posted by top1000nole

Not sure what I am going to do at this point.

Give your batteries a full charge and test them as outlined. You should then have enough information to make an informed decision on the batteries.
My gut feel is that they could very well be near the end of their life ... but test them and see. If lucky, you might just have to replace one.

[cgtech]

Go down to the local cart shop and buy a used one to test in place of the totally bad one. Take your bad core with you to trade in, they just might let you swap one out from their core pile. Take a volt meter with you, so you can pick a winner. Your other 5 batteries are likely not getting a full charge because the bad battery voltage skyrockets when on charge.

[JeepFreak843]

Trojan batteries have the year of the battery stamped on the negative post and the letter stands for the month.... ex c 7 would be march 2017..... Trojans should have plenty of power to get over hills so most likely they are getting weak.... ((I only use Trojans))

[top1000nole]

Ok so here is the update. Slapped one new Trojan in to replace the one confirmed bad batt and took it for a quick spin. I am pleased to report it did for the first time climb up the hill to my driveway and my driveway. It was slow, but steady unlike before where it would not even really attempt to try.

I'm torn now however, after charging last night and just checking resting voltage of the batts and here is where i'm at. The new one 6.47 two others 6.2 and two others 6.17 and one at 6.11.

using the table posted earlier the rest of the batts are only running at best 60% state of charge and if I have see this much improvement in one upgrade (granted the biggest gap from the tested bad one to new one) how much more will I see with replacement of the rest.

I don't love the idea of replacing the rest of the batts due to the cost with fear of minimal more improvement however if everyone thinks I will see much more improvement I would be tempted. Also I do understand the new batt's life span will be shortened running it will all the bad ones.

So what does everyone think? Much more improvement with 5 more new ones, or not that much more and let it ride for a bit. Thanks everyone.

[cgtech]

Depends on how low the voltage is dropping now that the bad one is gone. You could also try charging the others up with a car battery charger, but that will require near constant monitoring.

[ThreeCW]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Depends on how low the voltage is dropping now that the bad one is gone.

As "cgtech" has suggested, one more "load test" to determine the battery pack voltage in a "fully charged, static condition" and in a "fully charged, loaded condition" should be enough to determine the health of your "5 old + 1 new" battery pack. If the voltage drop is excessive (and that voltage drop value is subject to much opinion), then I believe that your conclusion would be to replace the other 5 batteries. A voltage drop comparison should also be made to the theoretical 6 new battery option (6 x 6.47v).

All this may go out the window if you want to spend lots of $ to convert to a 48 volt system. I am not sure if your cart has enough room for 8 pieces of 6 volt batteries ... more knowlagable members can weigh in. If there is enough room for 8 batteries, it would mean buying 2 more 6 volts. If there is not room for 8 batteries, you would need to go to 6 pieces of 8 volt batteries. What I have heard earlier from other members is that you may need to convert to 48 volt to achieve the peak power for your cart setup.

One more battery test (for the sake of science) may help you with the decision process.

Welcome to the addiction!!!

[ThreeCW]

top1000nole,

Here is a recent forum thread discussing how much voltage drop is acceptable and why ... a good discussion of both theory and practice! You should be able to use this to determine if your voltage drop is acceptable or not.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...op-t-105s.html

.

[mutant]

i have a series cart like yours-if you want to increase the performance of your cart-the WHOLE system needs to be upgraded...
think of it as a fire hose-if there is a restriction anywhere in the hose-the output is reduced...this means if you just upgrade the controller and solenoid-your f/r switch and 6g cables are gonna hold you back...

my cart was bone stock with 22" tires and lifted when i got it-it almost would not go up my steep hill(about 3 mph)...i dropped the cart ,put stock tires and rims on it and new batteries(36v)...i picked up about 1 mph...then fried the stock f/r switch....time to call scottyB...got 2G cables,HD f/r switch and solinoid...now i was going 6-7mph on same hill...

my hill so steep i can get 40mph out of my cart downhill...i dont for fear i will explode the motor....

yesterday i ordered a alltrax sr48500 from scotty and will be looking forward to seeing the improvement when that goes in real soon!!...

i upgraded the little things first so the system is ready for the controller upgrade-i will go to 48v when this pack dies....SirNuke`s build was the build i copied because it was done in stages and made sense to me....

ps-your stock motor will love 48v and-though there are better performing motors-it will do well with yhe upgrades-just depends on the budget-speed costs $$$$$

[noxin]

Originally Posted by mutant

got 2G cables,HD f/r switch and solinoid...now i was going 6-7mph on same hill...

You picked up some torque uphill with just a new HD F/R switch and solenoid? I already have 2G cables on a stock series TXT and will probably follow the same path you are. I planned on getting the F/R switch next, then a 500a controller with the solenoid as a package. But maybe I'll do it in 3 steps instead and get the switch, then solenoid, then controller....