run-time difference?

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by Checkride

So, now your in a hurry to get to the fishing hole? I know what you mean. I was excited that my cart was free...so I thought.

My first cart was FREE ..... it has cost me tens of thousands and all my free time. But it's worth it

[Gale Hawkins]

Originally Posted by fishb8

Gale,
Does the BatteryMINDer Model 36271 take the place of the powerwise charger or is it in addition to the powerwise charger?

NO NO NO

The charger upgrade feature on the basic desulfator from BatteryMINDer is only 2.7 amps but it is a true automatic three stage charger that should never cook your batteries if you were gone for 6 months. If the power goes off then comes back on it will come back on line in its least agressive mode eating crystals and keep the battery bank at 100%.

BatteryMINDer Model 36271 states to ONLY bring it on line AFTER the cart charger has shut off because the batteries are fully charged.

Again the BatteryMINDer Model 36271 is NOT a replacement for a cart charger.

scottyb and others after some attractive after market 36-48 cart chargers should an OEM charger die or you want something that weights less than 50#.

[fishb8]

SO you charge the batteries. Then connect the BatteryMINDer to maintain.

I dont understand this:
"scottyb and others after some attractive after market 36-48 cart chargers should an OEM charger die or you want something that weights less than 50#."

[leapingbuddha]

You mention a De-Sulfator. Living off-grid for 15 years I have had experience with a product called Power-Pulse. As far as I know it comes in 12, 24 and 48 volt. About the size of a cigarette pack, maybe has a capacitor in it and hooks up to one positive and one negative end in your battery pack. It dosent use any or much juice, it just charges up and then every 10 seconds sends a pulse back to the battery. I used one and got 10 years out of L-16 batteries for my home set-up [solar]. Maybe just a coincidence but seemed to work in this situation. Would this be of any advantage on my cart?

[scottyb]

It looks like it might work the same on the golf cart. It was designed to knock the sulfite crystals off of the lead plates... A good plan for a moderately sulfated battery. The old saying is " an ounce of prevention ...." The new chargers have an automatic float charge feature. When the cart is charged up they maintain the pack at 100% charge so there is no sulfating there and if you recharge when you are done using the cart there is no sulfating from sitting discharged either. These chargers weigh 6-8 pounds and can be use on-board or stand alone.

[Gale Hawkins]

Originally Posted by leapingbuddha

You mention a De-Sulfator. Living off-grid for 15 years I have had experience with a product called Power-Pulse. As far as I know it comes in 12, 24 and 48 volt. About the size of a cigarette pack, maybe has a capacitor in it and hooks up to one positive and one negative end in your battery pack. It dosent use any or much juice, it just charges up and then every 10 seconds sends a pulse back to the battery. I used one and got 10 years out of L-16 batteries for my home set-up [solar]. Maybe just a coincidence but seemed to work in this situation. Would this be of any advantage on my cart?

leapingbuddha I added a 48v with 200 AH rating desulfator when replacing the last set of batteries in our server room UPS at work.

Yes a desulfator should be an advantage for your cart just like on your solar system. This link is just one example from this company.

http://www.impactbattery.com/brands/...ulse-tech.html

scottyb read the marketing blip on this 36v desulfator and confirm with non marketing info on the subject too. I expect you will discover you are very wrong that a fully charged battery does not need a desulfator.

I use the best 12v 115 AH battery that money can buy you at Wal-Mart for our 48v battery pack at work.

Our BEST UPS system is 25-30 years old and I am expect it has never been serviced since it was installed in the mid 80's. We leased the building 8 years ago and it was behind a locked door and did not even know it was there until we got a locksmith to come open the door.

It died a short time later and I opened it to find four 12v/75 AH SLA batteries so I just removed them and got four FLA trolling motor batters from WM and set them just outside of the UPS. It likes to eat a set in 2-3 years.

Since I am a hoarder I had the last old WM set there. Since I had never used the Desulf Mode on our B&D three stage 12v charger I decided to give the old set (one at a time) three 24 hour cycles (after 24 hours it automatically goes back to auto charge mode on the Gel setting). The manual states it will have eaten all of the crystals it can eat during three repeated Desulf Mode cycles.

I put that set back on line and then did the same desulfator process on the set just pulled. Due to monthly tests we knew when new we got an hour of run time but with the same load run times had decreased to about 25 minutes.

After doing each of the four batteries just pulled for three Desulf Mode cycles by the manual we put this same set back online and the run time tested at 45 minutes but a year later the run time had dropped off some and they were using a lot of water (normally this means end of life). Due to their age and knowing lead prices were going up I just bought another set at WM (yesterday I noticed they were still $70 each for the 12v/115AH).

Yesterday I did start working with this pulled set from last summer because I was bored with all of the snow and waiting to go to the funeral home that evening. If I can get the SG reading I want I may put them back on line to test them in a working enviroment. If I keep them topped of I can install them should the current set develop a short, etc.

scottyb while this UPS system charger is very old these batterys stay fully charged and never get below 50% SOC because the UPS powers down when it can not keep AC out at the expected levels and they are recharged quickly after a power outage. In theory they should not need a desulfator used on them but practical experience shows me all batteries are better cared for if one uses a desulfator. They cost less than one battery and do work in my experience.

leapingbuddah I got the BatteryMINDer Model 36271 because it also has a 2.7 amp three stage charger built into the desulfator unit. That way after recharging with the cart charger I can park the cart for six months and know the batteries will stay clean of crystals and topped off for the next use. BatteryMINDer and BatteryTender are just common brands in the world of RV's.

My current view is any smart person with a bank of batteries that cost over $100 to replace will want to get a desulfator unit after they learn about them.