Question for the Battery Guru's

[joesam]

I felt neither offended or second-guessed. But after re-reading my stuff (not yours), I thought I might be sounding like a cheerleader for something that I myself have just decided to experiment with.

Don't get me wrong, I have thoroughly convinced myself its a great idea...but I wanted to be cautious for others reading the thread. Regarding the OBC, I re-read the circuit diagrams that I have for my cart - it definitely won't experience the charging voltage applied to the battery pack by the maintainer, as long as the big charger plug isn't engaged at the same time.

i'd turn tow switch to tow , the minder can be hooked to pack with out disconnecting any thing .. remember it only runs between where it is hooked and not through the whole system

check water monthly

[55BigBlock]

I think it is a great idea too. In my case, with sometimes 2 or more weeks between trips to the coast, it is only a matter of disconnecting one terminal on the pack and hooking up the maintainer to remove all possibility of problems. I have several old cars and the battery maintainers I have on them work great. I always disconnect the battery in them anyway. Keep us posted on how yours works.

[joesam]

Well she's all covered up and put to bed for the season, with the Battery Minder watching the store. It was time to change the transaxle fluid (manual says 200 rounds....I probably have 250 rounds since I last changed it) so I splurged and bought Synthetic Gear Lube (70-90W). Do I think it matters? Not really, but its .7 litres so an extra $4 was within my budget! Yesterday night I did my typical thorough year-end cart wash and flooded the battery bay with a couple buckets of Baking Soda & water and cleaned the tops with a soft brush, followed by a gentle shower of water throughout the battery bay. Been doing that annually since I owned it.

I will keep you posted on how this all works, but remember that it'll be 5 months before I will really know anything (unless a disaster happens). It had been on the battery minder for one day since I installed the marinco plug/socket (see install below). I checked the unplugged voltage after doing the gear lube and it was 51.3V. That's not a "rested" voltage - just a couple hours of being unplugged. I don't really know if that voltage is good or bad, but the voltage after the cart sat immobile (after recharging) in cool temperatures for 2 weeks was a meager 49.4. And I know that's poor.

The forecast is for 10cm of snow tomorrow! I put her to bed just in time....

[BatteryZombiedotcom]

Looks like a nice clean install Joe. Nicely Done!
Well it's sunny and 90 down here in FLA, waiting for the flock of snowbirds to fly on down.

[joesam]

OK - Then I'll come clean. I'm due in Phoenix from the 15th of this month thru month end. And will probably be back there in February for another couple weeks. You just gotta do it to keep your sanity (and a half decent golf swing).

[Speedchaser]

I switched to a DPI charger because I was having charging issues.
Found out the DPI charger has a float charge and is keeping the pack around 52 volts. Super easy install too.

[55BigBlock]

I ordered one of these. I am going to hook it up as described in joesam's post. We will see how it works.

shopsaveabattery.com/48-VOLT-50-WATT-Vehicle-Battery-Charger-w-Auto-Pulse-2365-48.htm

[joesam]

Interesting - so yours is 50 watts = about 1amp (at 48v). The product I used is 2 amps at the same voltage. At 1 amp - it is clearly meant for maintaining and not really charging our large batteries in any short time period. By the same token though, there is really not enough power to "gas-off" much (if any) water from a properly filled battery. Both products purport to pulse power in an effort to reduce sulfation, but neither you or I are really expecting much in the way of improvement due to that (well and passionately argued) promise. The float voltage (at highly reduced amperage) is meant to barely overcome the self-discharge during inactivity, that is an unavoidable characteristic of flooded cells

But even the detractors of pulse charging seem to admit it doesn't apparently hurt anything (I've been doing some extra reading of some very in-depth chemical vs molecular vs electronics experts and admittedly not understanding most of their arguments). The only credible warning was that continuous unmonitored float charging of a shorted cell could lead to drying out individual cells and cause irreversible battery damage (how is a shorted battery not already irreversibly damaged)? But the device I have is supposed to "error-out" and cease charging in that case. No way to be sure, though. In any case, a 15amp charger seems far more threatening if left unattended, and I have essentially done that every winter.

BTW, it might look like it, but the plug I used is 3 prong/twist - not a cigarette lighter type. I didn't want anyone plugging a 12v accessory (eg. Sky Caddy) - into my 48v battery bank in a familiar looking receptacle!

[55BigBlock]

I called the company that makes these out in California and described my plan. Their tech guy said our thinking and wiring was right. When I get to the coast, I plan on hooking up the Powerwise and using it all weekend. The morning we leave, I will disconnect the Powerwise after a full charge, and hook up the maintainer. I will leave it hooked up until my next trip. I am going down next weekend. Hopefully it will be delivered by then so I can hook it up.

One more thing, I wanted the unit like yours but my thrifty southern upbringing, (AKA too Cheap) influenced my decision.