Battery Question

[JohnnieB]

The LED Bar-Graph type meter may be useful as a "Fuel" gauge, but you need real voltage readings.
Install a DVM type battery meter or use a hand held voltmeter so you can tell what the batteries are actually doing.

By discharge slightly, I meant it was okay to drive around the yard between recharges.
Otherwise, just unplug the charger when it shuts off and plug it back in again to start another charge cycle.

That should take the five good batteries to their max charge, so they can be used as a goal for charging the weak battery individually.

Basically, their voltage won't climb any higher, then charge the low battery until its voltage won't go any higher.

If you are lucky it will come up to the same voltage as the other five.

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Don't use the batteries any more than you have to until you get all of them reading the same voltage.

[suppavillin]

Ok thanks.
I am guessing I have to charge 2 batteries? Because it takes 2 to tango right? For a battery to be hooked up wrong it has to be hooked up to another battery. Otherwords I had a negative to another negative and that involved 2 batteries. So I guess ill have to charge both. Again I dont have that meter and I cant get it so i gotta play this by ear.

[Volt_Ampere]

No. Only the one that was wired backwards would be discharged. The current flows through all of the batteries in series and charges them at the same rate. One down side of this is that the weakest battery gets fully charged first and then it gets overcharged while the charger brings the others up to full charge. The charger senses the whole battery pack voltage to control it's charge profile. The way we keep the pack balanced is by slightly overcharging.

Use a DVM to read all of the battery voltages one at a time. If they are all about equal, you are good to go.

[suppavillin]

Ok thanks.
Im getting confused here. If there are 6 batteries with 1 pos and 1 neg on each one that means if 1 neg is connected to another neg, a pos is connected to another pos somewhere.Because I had the cart charging and it was charging normally
I dont know guys, I dont have a DVM and I can not get one,I am in the middle of nowhere and this cart is my only ride. I think im gonna just roll with it. I am getting very very long run time now and it doesnt seem to me that anything bad happened. I mean if its something I wont notice but 3 years from now I think I can live with that. although I really did want these batteries to last me.... Last time I except any help putting in batteries in. I always did prefer to work alone.haha. Jeez,he had one task. Put NEG to POS and he screws that up.

[gornoman]

If you can find golf cart batteries and have internet access, you can surely find a $25 digital multimeter. They are available at any hardware store, and they are a sparky cart owners most important tool.

[Volt_Ampere]

Invest in a multimeter. You can get one online for cheap.

[suppavillin]

Originally Posted by gornoman

If you can find golf cart batteries and have internet access, you can surely find a $25 digital multimeter. They are available at any hardware store, and they are a sparky cart owners most important tool.

Not true man. I live in a 90 squar mile private development that does not get deliveries to our doors. This golf cart is my only wheels right now. A friend came up last week with the batteries.

Anyone have a link of a good priced voltage meter? I see some but I dont understand them. These ones look like they only gauge the whole pack/set.
I could have it sent to the office. I still have to drive the cart for 1 hour to get there and back but I have no other option.
To be honest the cart seems fine but....I will take all you pros advace and get a DVM.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-LCD-...item43b950e39e

[bigstik40]

That's a pretty nice looking meter for only $11 with free shipping !!! RAY

[suppavillin]

Thank you very much for that link Crash. And thanks to all who helped me.:)
Bought it. THanks everyone.
What should my batteries read? 6??
I'll have to learn how to use that meter, that dial looks confusing.
Do all the batteries have to be disconnected to test them?