How long can batteries go w/o adding water before they are to far gone

[gumpbuck]

Hello All,

Just traded for a 2002 electric club car DS. It is lifted and has a 700 amp motor. It appears to be a "Series" and it has Trojan T875 batteries that were installed in May or 2011.

I used it this past weekend for it's first real test. It "kicks like Bruce Lee" but I only got about 1.5 to 2 hours before it died. Well, I checked the batteries and found that they were low on water. We added 1.5 gallons of distilled water and put the charger on it. Charger ran for about 10 hrs before shutting off.

I called the prior owner and he told me he never added water to these batteries! (Wish I knew to check this before I made the deal.) He only used the cart on a 6 acre lot and never ran it for very long at any one time. He says he plugged it in after every use and left it pluged in. (CC PowerDrive 2 charger.) He also ran a stereo and rope lights on this cart.

So, can these batteries be saved? Agian, it runs great at full charge, but it's not lasting long.

I have other issues/questions, but I'll just start with this one.

Thanks for your help

[scottyb]

Being 1.5 gallons low and being left on a charge all the time is a tough combination... , Some damage was done. Time will tell how healthy they are....

[dylan schumacher]

the aspirin trick ... or that might be if you can't even get a charge at all. i don't know exactly way the aspirin trick does

[gornoman]

Welcome to BGW!

If the batteries had their plates exposed for an extended period of time, damage has been done to the plates and reduced range is the result. They will take a charge, but it won't last long. Hopefully the damage has been stopped now that you are maintaining them, and they will carry on from this point.

[Scott H.]

Point of advice from someone that has been there - done that with work carts?

Do a full charge, keep a good eye on the water levels, run for only an hour or so to discharge the pack, charge and repeat for a couple of times and then see if it'll run longer. Hopefully that's all it'll take to get you by for a while.

Even if it rescues your batteries some, I would still start a battery replacement fund now.

I had one cart (my red EZ GO) at work that this procedure worked on and the cart would run most of the day. On one of the others (the salesdroids Club Car), it didn't and the cart would still only run about 3 hours total. Both carts got their batteries replaced within the year because of battery failures though.

Hope you can save them,
-Scott H.

[gumpbuck]

Thanks Guys!!

Gonna try Scott's advice for now and see what happens.....

[Scott H.]

Originally Posted by gumpbuck

Gonna try Scott's advice for now and see what happens.....

I honestly hope it works for you, but like Scotty and Gorno said, damage has been done and it's only a temporary fix at best.

Please post how it turns out. Since I had 50/50 results when I did it on the work carts, I would like to know.

-Scott H.