Storing golf car batteries

[Doc]

Your maintainer may have been defective...what brand was it? In my experience, maintainers are the way to go for Winter storage. As a rule, they will NOT boil out the water in the batts because they charge at such a low rate. Were the batts topped off before you set them for storage?

[Sergio]

lockman1 method is the only safe way to store batteries unattended.

The next best option would be a bank charger or individual maintainers per battery. While this would be the ideal way to maintain the batteries, it would still be subject to a breaker tripping.

The maintainer charges the pack, not individual batteries, so it is very possible that while the "pack" is under gassing voltage, individual batteries may not be and will dry themselves out.

[theboss20]

Originally Posted by Doc

Your maintainer may have been defective...what brand was it? In my experience, maintainers are the way to go for Winter storage. As a rule, they will NOT boil out the water in the batts because they charge at such a low rate. Were the batts topped off before you set them for storage?

Personally I have had trouble finding a 48v maintainer...my favorite brand is Battery Tender but they don't seem to have anything in a 2amp maintainer in 48v...any suggestions?

[MDLNB]

IMO, leaving the main cart charger on for months without checking it, could be damaging. I say that only because when my cart charger is on, it bubbles the water and it can quickly evaporate. I bought a Sav-a-battery maintainer that will use low amperage to maintain a constant charge. If it is half as good as BatteryTender then I will be happy with it.

I travled and lived overseas for two or more years per post, per country and brought my Harley with me. I used a BatteryTender on it whenever I wasn't riding, which meant all the winter months. I never had to replace my battery in over five years. Take into consideration that my bike was shipped by boat which took several months without being charged. During those times, I unhooked the battery cables for shipping.

It appears that the Sav-a-battery maintainer works in the same manner as the BatteryTender in that it has a computer chip that will recognize when the charge is down and turn the maintainer on. My Sav-a-Battery maintainer 48 volts, says it will also work as a desultfator. If so, then that is an added advantage.

The way my Club Car charger boils the battery water, I do not intend on leaving it hooked up for long periods of time. Just my two cents/opinion.

If the Sav-a-battery maintainer is as good as advertised, then I got an excellent deal for my money.

[Hecky50]

Have had my SAV-A-BATTERY for over a year now. Worth every penny. 48v unit keeps pack at a steady 53 volts for weeks at a time. Do a search here and you'll find several users of this unit. BTW, another good feature of this unit is if the power goes out it will start up again when the power returns. You factory charger won't do that!!

[Hecky50]

SO Ken, what type of maintainer was that?? Finish you story.

[rib33024]

It don't matter what kind of maintainer it was, you can't go off and leave the batteries for 5 months with out putting water in them.

[ken bauer]

It was a Cen-tech float charger from Harbor Freight. I am gone for 6 months and as posted by RIB you still have to add water and I have no one to add water for me so I will disconnect and recharge when I get back, This to me is better than running out of water and still having the float charger running. Thanks everyone, I think we all learned something on these maintainers.

[joesam]

I don't know that product other than its ad - but that looks like a continuous charger that does not monitor or shut off....thus "float charger". I think its Apples/Oranges. Doesn't seem like a maintainer to me. My own Battery Minder was connected from Oct 22nd to March 18th. Result - 50.4 volts (when I disconnected & measured...but the Battery Minder was in "monitor mode" - whenever I looked - except once). It was not apparently/actively charging thru most of the winter as far as I could tell...undetectable water loss in cold storage after 5 months.

[jdunmyer]

Personally I have had trouble finding a 48v maintainer...my favorite brand is Battery Tender but they don't seem to have anything in a 2amp maintainer in 48v...any suggestions?

I use a Battery Minder (tm):

Amazon.com: BatteryMINDer Maintainer/Desulfater - 2 Amps for 48V Systems, Model# 48021: Automotive

Amazon.com: BatteryMINDer Maintainer/Desulfater - 2 Amps for 48V Systems, Model# 48021: Automotive

These are good units, in my experience. I have 3 or 4 of the 12 volt outfits, plus a 36 volt one.