Batteries losing charge quickly

[CAPTAINASU]

I just installed 4 new batteries on my 2008 RXV as my others were 3+ years old and beginning to go bad. The batteries are Continentals and were manufactured just this month based on the stampings.

The problem I am having is that the SOC meter is showing that they are losing their charge almost as fast as the batteries I replaced. I checked the voltage on each battery after the charger went off and they are each showing a 12.9v +/- with a total of 51.7v across the pack.

Any ideas on what would be causing the drop in my SOC meter? I used to be able to drive to the course, play 18 holes, and drive home (9 miles total) and the meter would never get below 3/4 charge. Now it drops that far or more going just half that distance.

I don't want to push it to see if the SOC meter is bad in fear of damaging new batteries.

Thanks

[nezman]

I am having the same problem but I used US batteries instead

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by CAPTAINASU

I just installed 4 new batteries on my 2008 RXV as my others were 3+ years old and beginning to go bad. The batteries are Continentals and were manufactured just this month based on the stampings.

The problem I am having is that the SOC meter is showing that they are losing their charge almost as fast as the batteries I replaced. I checked the voltage on each battery after the charger went off and they are each showing a 12.9v +/- with a total of 51.7v across the pack.

Any ideas on what would be causing the drop in my SOC meter? I used to be able to drive to the course, play 18 holes, and drive home (9 miles total) and the meter would never get below 3/4 charge. Now it drops that far or more going just half that distance.

I don't want to push it to see if the SOC meter is bad in fear of damaging new batteries.

Thanks

Besides an unknown here on the capacity of the new batteries, you'll need to break in the new batteries to get them to their rated capacity.

[vagabond]

what type of meter do you have in your cart

[BobBoyce]

Originally Posted by vagabond

what type of meter do you have in your cart

A 2008 RXV has a factory in-dash SOC meter which is an output display for the controller. The controller contains the logic that calculates SOC and drives the display.

[CAPTAINASU]

A couple of other things I just thought of for you experts to ponder:

At the end of last summer I took the cart to an EZGO dealer to have the speed increased from 14 mph to 18 mph. At the same time I had them change the gear oil in the rear end as it was due per the maintenance schedule and to hopefully quiet the rear end down as it was making a whining noise (which I understand is common with these carts).

When I got the cart back it was indeed faster and noticeably quieter so I was happy. I used cart a couple of more times before winter hit and I had begun to notice the batteries weren't holding up like they used to. Based on their age I figured they were just due for replacement which I did a couple of weeks ago.

Could the 4mph speed increase and new gear oil be the cause of my problems? I drove to the course and played 18 holes today (9 miles total per gps) and when I got back the batteries were all the way down to 12.2v which according to a the chart I have is 60% charge. I would think an RXV with new batteries should be able to do at least 20 miles and it looks like I could get maybe 10 miles max.

Thanks again for any thoughts or insight!

[CAPTAINASU]

Another new development. After plugging the cart in at 5:30 pm the charger (DPI AccuSense) shut down after only 3.5 hours and shows a complete charge.

Shouldn't it take much longer to charge the batteries from 60% than that? Maybe the charger is the issue?

[orangeman6]

You could check your pack with a dvm and compare that reading to your soc meter. At least that way you could confirm the status of your batteries.

[CAPTAINASU]

The voltage readings I posted above were obtained with a multimeter. Unless I am missing something I think they would be the same as what a DVM would show. The readings are pretty much in line with what the SOC gauge is displaying.

Thanks

[orangeman6]

Shoot, sorry about that, had another thread in my head and didn't review your first post.

Hope you get it straightened out.