Converting from 4-12volts to 6-8volts

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by 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.

That's great that you have a 2008.5! The 650 men is debatable , though. In your case, it's a no-brainer to install 6 8 volters. However, for us that don't have that option it becomes something to think about. I can't justify putting $400.00+ into an '07, as I will never get that money back. By the time my Trojans wear out, I'll be in a newer cart, perhaps the new Precedent with the 8 6 volters!

Are the 6 8 volters really 50% more powerfull? I can't imagine driving over 30 miles on one charge!

[trigger1937]

Steve3201,... Yes I went to the Club Car dealer today to pickup a used 12 Volt battery since as I have mentioned, one of my 4 just will not take a charge over 12.4 volts. It is heavily sulfated. They gave me my choice of a full pallet of 12 volts but all were either 2008 or 2007 and some went back to 2005. They hold them until the get a sufficient to swap core for core when they order a new group of 12 volts. Nedless to say, they have not been ordering a lot of 12Volts any more.

While there I double checked the rating on the T1275 and it is 150 A/H at 20HR rating. I also checked the 8 Volt and it is also 150 A/H at 20HR rating. It is all about the design of a "CELL", the size, the capacity, the rating,...and the size. All I can conclude is that when they came up with the idea for 12volt units it was based on some notion that getting rid of 2 batteries would save them and customers money as the cost of batteries keep going up and up. However, the size of the Bucket limited the size of the battery and this limited the design of the 12Volt to 150 A/H. There are still 24 total cells but each one has less power. It does add up to 50%,..do the math.

On the issue of 650 men,..that is the total population of our Mens club at our golf course. I didn't think I had to mention that not all 650 men bought carts in 2002, as the total we got was only about 300,..so I meant that only that many got new carts. Even that number is wrong, since we have about 250 Women member, and 200 9 holers, and there were people that bought the carts just for driving around our complex and too the market so the 300 carts is divided over all groups. It is still a very large number.

[littlebob]

I would get away from the 12V as soon as possible. every time we get a problem with one the batteries, there not that old, 2-3yrs.

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by trigger1937

Steve3201,... Yes I went to the Club Car dealer today to pickup a used 12 Volt battery since as I have mentioned, one of my 4 just will not take a charge over 12.4 volts. It is heavily sulfated. They gave me my choice of a full pallet of 12 volts but all were either 2008 or 2007 and some went back to 2005. They hold them until the get a sufficient to swap core for core when they order a new group of 12 volts. Nedless to say, they have not been ordering a lot of 12Volts any more.

While there I double checked the rating on the T1275 and it is 150 A/H at 20HR rating. I also checked the 8 Volt and it is also 150 A/H at 20HR rating. It is all about the design of a "CELL", the size, the capacity, the rating,...and the size. All I can conclude is that when they came up with the idea for 12volt units it was based on some notion that getting rid of 2 batteries would save them and customers money as the cost of batteries keep going up and up. However, the size of the Bucket limited the size of the battery and this limited the design of the 12Volt to 150 A/H. There are still 24 total cells but each one has less power. It does add up to 50%,..do the math.

On the issue of 650 men,..that is the total population of our Mens club at our golf course. I didn't think I had to mention that not all 650 men bought carts in 2002, as the total we got was only about 300,..so I meant that only that many got new carts. Even that number is wrong, since we have about 250 Women member, and 200 9 holers, and there were people that bought the carts just for driving around our complex and too the market so the 300 carts is divided over all groups. It is still a very large number.

I agree that having 6 8 volters is better than 4 12 volters, I'm not aurguing that. I'm only saying I don't need to change my setup as it already exceeds my expectations.

The men thing was a joke, sorry. I'm no electrical engineer, but despite the mathematical theory, in real-world conditions, my friends with 6 8 volters can't go 50% further than my 4 12 volters.

You said to do the math:

I never disputed the math, but you left out the Energy (kWh). kWh/100 hrs: 12V: 1.99 x 4 = 7.96, 8V: 1.34 x 6 = 8.04. When total energy is considered, the 8 volters have a very slight edge. I'm sure this energy stuff doesn't matter anyway, but it looked interesting to me.

My whole point was that it is a waste of money (for me and some others) to convert to 6 8 volters when our 4 12 volters have performed and continue to perform, despite the problems that others have had. People always bring up that whenever a 12 volter is defective, it's only 2-3 years old. Well, yeah, they are not gonna bring you a 4-5 year old working one.

[trigger1937]

Steve3201,... I understand and agree with your position,... "If it ain't broke,..Don't fix it" I need to lighten up a bit,..since I totally missed your joke. If I had read you profile closer I would have figured out you live on the lighter side. By the way,.. one my old cart I had the Alltrax 500 amp controller and got my 96 CC up to 23 MPH with a stock motor,..but then the rest of the cart started falling apart and was too difficult to find parts as it was one of those years where they only built a few and never built any more. Also,.. where did you find the KWH numbers?

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by trigger1937

Steve3201,... I understand and agree with your position,... "If it ain't broke,..Don't fix it" I need to lighten up a bit,..since I totally missed your joke. If I had read you profile closer I would have figured out you live on the lighter side. By the way,.. one my old cart I had the Alltrax 500 amp controller and got my 96 CC up to 23 MPH with a stock motor,..but then the rest of the cart started falling apart and was too difficult to find parts as it was one of those years where they only built a few and never built any more. Also,.. where did you find the KWH numbers?

No biggie, just having conversation! Here is the link from Trojan Battery: You have to scroll down to get to the chart.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/TRJ...dSpecGuide.pdf

I bet you miss that 500 amps

[erict]

Originally Posted by littlebob

I would get away from the 12V as soon as possible. every time we get a problem with one the batteries, there not that old, 2-3yrs.

I have read some with new batteries failed, 8v or 12v Not sure the point of this post. I have 6yr old 12v and still running

[trigger1937]

OK,... I need your help again. I mentioned above that I picked up a 12 volt used battery from the CC dealer. I charged it all night long with my 12Volt charger at 10 amps. By morning it had switch over to 2.7 amp charge and finally finished at "FULL". The volts measure 12.93 but I'm sure that will drop at it sits. My question is,..the cells are full of DIRTY brown water and I want to empty that out and replace it will Distilled water. I could just dump in on the drive way and hose it down a lot, or I could use the Hydrometer and suck out as much as I can and replace it with new distilled water,.. or I could just leave it.

My next question is,.."How to test the battery". I don't want to switch it out with my bad battery in the cart until I know it is going to be OK. I could disconnect my car battery and see if this batter will start the car. I could take it downtown and find a station that will do a load test. Any ideas of what I could use for a load test.

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by trigger1937

OK,... I need your help again. I mentioned above that I picked up a 12 volt used battery from the CC dealer. I charged it all night long with my 12Volt charger at 10 amps. By morning it had switch over to 2.7 amp charge and finally finished at "FULL". The volts measure 12.93 but I'm sure that will drop at it sits. My question is,..the cells are full of DIRTY brown water and I want to empty that out and replace it will Distilled water. I could just dump in on the drive way and hose it down a lot, or I could use the Hydrometer and suck out as much as I can and replace it with new distilled water,.. or I could just leave it.

My next question is,.."How to test the battery". I don't want to switch it out with my bad battery in the cart until I know it is going to be OK. I could disconnect my car battery and see if this batter will start the car. I could take it downtown and find a station that will do a load test. Any ideas of what I could use for a load test.

Noooooo, don't dump it out. Get some battery acid from a shop or whatever and use that to replace the existing acid. Distilled water is only used to to replace the water that has evaporated, not the acid. I say just leave it and topit off with distilled water. Put it in the cart and drive around for a bit, then check the voltages of all batteries. Note any differences. Only way to load test is to put a load on the battery and observe with a meter attached.

[Colbyntx]

Originally Posted by Stevec3201

Noooooo, don't dump it out. Get some battery acid from a shop or whatever and use that to replace the existing acid. Distilled water is only used to to replace the water that has evaporated, not the acid. I say just leave it and topit off with distilled water. Put it in the cart and drive around for a bit, then check the voltages of all batteries. Note any differences. Only way to load test is to put a load on the battery and observe with a meter attached.

Please don't dump all your acid out!