Converting from 4-12volts to 6-8volts

[rdawg60]

I have been told by local golf cart shop It would be better to convert my 2006 Precedent from 4 12volt battery system to a 6 8volt battery system.
I was told the battery life is longer for the 8volt batteries. The batteries in my cart are the original Club Car Trojan 12volt batteries that came in the cart new. They still hold a good charge except I have one possbly leaking. Should I stay with the 12volt batteries or go with the 8 volt batteries. Would I have to use a differrent charger?

[shadowman]

you can still use your charger 48 volts is 48 volts......theres a reason that C.C. went back to the 8 volt batteries so that should tell you something.......yes convert..............................

[Golfdog]

Originally Posted by rdawg60

I have been told by local golf cart shop It would be better to convert my 2006 Precedent from 4 12volt battery system to a 6 8volt battery system.
I was told the battery life is longer for the 8volt batteries. The batteries in my cart are the original Club Car Trojan 12volt batteries that came in the cart new. They still hold a good charge except I have one possbly leaking. Should I stay with the 12volt batteries or go with the 8 volt batteries. Would I have to use a differrent charger?

For the non technically minded like me, I believe the theory is that as 4 X 12v =48v and the T1275 (12v) batteries are 150 Amp Hour (20hr rating) total A/H is 150 from 4 batteries . The 8v T860 batteries are also 150 A/H (20hr rating) so 6 X 8 = 48v but from 6 batteries which will give you more mileage.
As the life of the batteries is relative to the depth of the discharges they endure during use, the more A/H you have the less the depth of discharge for any equal use, therefore the more recharges the batteries will take during their lifetime. If your batteries are still originals (5 yrs old) you are doing quite nicely. You may have to modify the battery compartment as well. A lot depends on what you use the cart for and the duration of your "trips"

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Originally Posted by Golfdog

For the non technically minded like me, I believe the theory is that as 4 X 12v =48v and the T1275 (12v) batteries are 150 Amp Hour (20hr rating) total A/H is 150 from 4 batteries . The 8v T860 batteries are also 150 A/H (20hr rating) so 6 X 8 = 48v but from 6 batteries which will give you more mileage.
As the life of the batteries is relative to the depth of the discharges they endure during use, the more A/H you have the less the depth of discharge for any equal use, therefore the more recharges the batteries will take during their lifetime. If your batteries are still originals (5 yrs old) you are doing quite nicely. You may have to modify the battery compartment as well. A lot depends on what you use the cart for and the duration of your "trips"

Very well put sir.

[trigger1937]

While this is a very old thread it has some great information. I searched and found it and I want to add to it. Battery life is a function of two things,...1. How you use it. 2. How you maintain it. The cart is have (2008.5 IQ Precedent) came off a golf course and has 2010-E batteries. This means this cart has already gone has a 2nd set of batteries,...and these batteries probably won't last 6 months. The sulfate build up in all of them is terrible, and one of them will never take a charge and get over 12.4 volts and when I use the cart for one round of golf it drops down to 12.06,..which in looking at tables is below the 50% charge level. Some Golf courses take terrible care of their carts and typically they want to use them twice a day without a charge in between. This means they were discharging them to the point where sufate was building up everyday because of the heavy discharge.

The data from the Golfdog post says that 4-12volts have a total of 600 A/H and the 6-8Volt system would have 900 A/H. That is 50% more power. Golf courses used to get away with this when they had 6-8Volt batteries but when they switched to the 12 Volt system they were starting of with 50% less power everyday. No wonder Club Car and Torjan are at each others throats. Club Car has lost a ton of money on their 4 year warranty and blames the Trojan battery. Trojan says it is a bad controller/OBC?Charger system and that there is nothing wrong with their battery. I think both of them are correct and the problem is just a terrible application for 12 volt batteries.

Getting back to usage,..for me all I use the cart for is golf and that is at MOST, 3 rounds per week, plus 1 per week for my wife,... and depending on weather maybe 1 round together on the weekend. It never gets more than this and in the winter (November to April) it could be 0-1 round per week.

All the charts say the life of the battery is a function of HOW YOU USE IT,..MEANING,... WHAT PERCENTAGE IT IS DISCHARGED IN BETWEEN CHARGES. Since for golf cart usage it is pretty consistant,..it seems there is no issue between the value of the 4 batteries versus the 6 batteries,...especially if the A/H rating is the same.

My Cart has the "Switchable" bucket,...so I think I'm clear about changing back to 8 volt system. My two concerns would be the "Charger", and the OBC/Controller. I know that TahoeDawg has pretty much stated that you should change the OBC,... not sure about the controller. Many other post on this web site have indicated the charger is good to go. This is easy to confirm since Club Car has converted back to 8 Volt system and if they use the same charger for either configuration. My owners manual list both 8 and 12 volt battery options.

I would welcome all opinions and comments, facts, and useful information.

[Stevegrmich]

@trigger: FWIW . . . my 06 DS owner's manual shows that it came with either 4-12v's or 6-8v's that year . . . however, the individual parts list for my year DS only shows ONE part number for the controller and OBC . . . I guess I would have to check with local CC dealer to see if my cart would need to have a different controller/OBC if battery configuration was changed . . . but by the IPL, one would think not . . . maybe with an IQ system, they can do a software change to accomplish it??? . . . or possibly it doesn't need any changes??? . . .

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by rdawg60

I have been told by local golf cart shop It would be better to convert my 2006 Precedent from 4 12volt battery system to a 6 8volt battery system.
I was told the battery life is longer for the 8volt batteries. The batteries in my cart are the original Club Car Trojan 12volt batteries that came in the cart new. They still hold a good charge except I have one possbly leaking. Should I stay with the 12volt batteries or go with the 8 volt batteries. Would I have to use a differrent charger?

You can answer your own question. "Should I stay with the 12volt batteries or go with the 8 volt batteries" Answer: Does your current system work for you?

[erict]

I thought about this as well and have decided that for my usage the (4) 12v will suit me fine. I also did not want to upset my wife since I just bought my cart and with the conversion it would cost around $1,000 with new batteries.

[Stevegrmich]

Originally Posted by erict

I thought about this as well and have decided that for my usage the (4) 12v will suit me fine. I also did not want to upset my wife since I just bought my cart and with the conversion it would cost around $1,000 with new batteries.

When mama's happy . . . . . . .

[trigger1937]

Stevegrimch,.. Thansk for that info. So did yours come with 8 Volt or 12Volt. Is the Bucket in your cart the type that will accept either battery? Someone on this forum had told me that the 2008.5 carts were the first carts where they moved the controller/OBC out of the middle of the Bucket and put it under the the seat back. This provided the room to install the batteries for either 12Volt or 8 Volt without any need to any modifications. Wait a minute, now I see you have a DS, that is such a different body style they don't even have the "Bucket". Sorry about misunderstanding.

One other reason I decided on going to the 8volts system (besides the extra 50% power) is that in 2002 our General Manager of our Gated community made a deal to purchase over 300 brand new Club Car golf carts at basic cost. These carts had been modified to be "Street Ready" and all came with California LIcense plates, backup light, turn signals, safety belts, hydralic brakes, roll bars, windsheild wipers, 4 ply tires,etc. The all had 6-8Volt Trojan battery system. I had one myself but I finally sold it to a friend for exactly what I paid for it.

Today all of these carts are still running fine here on our community and golf course. Of the 650 men in our golf club I know almost all of them and virtually all of them still have the original batteries or have just replaced them in the last year. That is 10 years of service out of one set of batteries. That is the kind of service I want to get out of my cart. I have also heard about all the problems that Club Car has had with dealers all over the US and the 12 volt battery issue. The problem has become so bad that Club Car and Trojan have filed suits against each other, and CC has stopped using any Trojan batteries in any cart they make and are replacing warranty Trojan batteries with US battery. My other evidence is the condition of the cart I just bought. Two sets of batteries in 3+ years. All of this is enough evidence for me.