Battery problem need opinions?

[beach cart]

I checked all batteries with a hydrometer, I have 2 dead cells in 2 different batteries. Ive decided to go with 6 trojan ranger 160 instead of 8 more deka gc 45. I will lose some distance, regular driving 18-21 mph could get 28 miles with the deka batts. I have a Johnny b list of batts and will check it out. My decision was based on ditching the extra 120 lbs. and my 8 6 volts lasted 3 yrs. 11 months. I drive alot, all road, the mileage, 5904 thats alot of cart miles, so I guess I cant complain much. They were well taken care of and charged with DPI charger. Thanks for your comments.

[johnny reb]

you can always try epsom salts. laugh if you want to but try it. i do it to my batteries. i got one with a gas harley the other day the guy said it wouldnt hold a charge. it is a 435 cca 12 volt i epsomed it and charged fully it has sat for 2 plus weeks and will still read 390 cca

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by beach cart

I checked all batteries with a hydrometer, I have 2 dead cells in 2 different batteries. Ive decided to go with 6 trojan ranger 160 instead of 8 more deka gc 45. I will lose some distance, regular driving 18-21 mph could get 28 miles with the deka batts. I have a Johnny b list of batts and will check it out. My decision was based on ditching the extra 120 lbs. and my 8 6 volts lasted 3 yrs. 11 months. I drive alot, all road, the mileage, 5904 thats alot of cart miles, so I guess I cant complain much. They were well taken care of and charged with DPI charger. Thanks for your comments.

The specs say that a Deka GC-45 weighs 77lbs and a Trojan Ranger 160 weighs 76lbs, so so your weight reduction will be about 160lbs.

By going from a 245AH 48V pack to a 204AH 48V pack, you will loose about 17% in storage capacity, but the battery pack will weigh about 26% less, so the reduction in range might not be quite as much as expected.

Your batteries lasted 47 months and according to that attached map, their live expectancy in Northeast Florida is only about 41 months, so you properly maintaining your batteries added about 6 months to the average and would have been more if not for the cell failures.

The nice thing about a warmer climate is that you get better cart performance from your battery pack, the bad thing is that the batteries don't last as long. (See attached chart)

[beach cart]

Johnny your awesome as always, makes me feel good i did everything i could to get the most out of my pack. I am already formulating plan for new batts. Break in. 1. Initial charge till they shut off, check water for sure, and min. 10-15 short discharges to no more then 75%. Scotty b battery maint. Guide.
By the way, my wonderful wife is buying the pack and new additional cables for my xmas present.
My cables lookng good, I plan to use them where available.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by beach cart

Johnny your awesome as always, makes me feel good i did everything i could to get the most out of my pack. I am already formulating plan for new batts. Break in. 1. Initial charge till they shut off, check water for sure, and min. 10-15 short discharges to no more then 75%. Scotty b battery maint. Guide.
By the way, my wonderful wife is buying the pack and new additional cables for my xmas present.
My cables lookng good, I plan to use them where available.

Looks are deceiving.

I doubt if you have any OEM cables installed since you upgraded to a 8 x 6V battery pack, but I suspect that your cables are at least as old as your battery pack, so inspect them very closely and check the voltage drop and temperature rise on the ones you reuse.

Both terminals are on the same side of 8V batteries, so interconnecting cables for the 6V batteries will be too short and you'll have to get at least 5 new cables. Use those cables as the baseline to compare the old cables against.

[beach cart]

Will do, I will check each carefully

[beach cart]

Update, trojan ranger 160's installed, new 2 ga. Cables too. Much better power for sure, even though I'm just taking short trips for break in period. This being just my second set of batts. has taught me to check with a hydrometer as well as digital voltage meter.

[beach cart]

The power and seem to be better torque, pulling power is significant. Makes me wonder if batteries are well taken care of and equalized with the dpi charger at least twice a month do they slowly degrade over time so its hard to tell whenbthey begin failing. I noticed sulfation start at the 3yr 4 mo. mark, just thoughts.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by beach cart

1. The power and seem to be better torque, pulling power is significant.
2. Makes me wonder if batteries are well taken care of and equalized with the dpi charger at least twice a month do they slowly degrade over time so its hard to tell whenbthey begin failing.
3. I noticed sulfation start at the 3yr 4 mo. mark, just thoughts.

1. Basically, that tells me that the new 204AH-48V battery pack has more storage capacity and more active chemistry before being broken in, than the old 245AH-48V battery pack had, but new 2Ga cables may have helped some too.

2. Equalizing "at least twice a month" might be too much of a good thing.

The DPI Accusense charger float charges after the regular charge cycle ends, which tends to keep a battery pack equalized, so deliberate equalization charges aren't needed as often as they are with chargers that don't float charge.

How often an equalization charge is needed varies greatly with cart usage and type of charger used, as well as other factors, so each cart's needs is different. If you drive your cart often, take the pack to 70% SoC or below on a fairly regular basis and have the DPI charger connected to it between trips, you may not need to equalize very often. Possibly once every other month or so.

To determine how often equalization is needed, let the batteries rest about half an hour after taking a 10-15 mile trip (or however long you typical trips are) and measure the individual battery voltages before connecting the DPI charger. If they are all within 0.1V of each other (or SG of the cells less than 0.030 of each other), equalization is not needed.

3. The sulfation started with the first discharge/charge cycle and additional sulfation accumulated with each subsequent discharge/charge cycle, but the adverse effects didn't become apparent until 3 years and 4 months later in your case.

The Sulfuric Acid in the Electrolyte (about 30% by weight) combines with the Lead (-)and Lead Dioxide (+) plates turn into Lead Sulfate plates and Water, producing electrical energy. Recharging the battery reverses the chemical reaction, but isn't 100% efficient, so some of the Lead Sulfate remains in the plates and the active surface area exposed to the Electrolyte is reduced by a tiny fraction of a percent with each Discharge/charge cycle, which is commonly known as aging.

Good charging practices and good battery maintenance minimizes aging, but cannot eliminate it.
On the other hand, poor charging practices and poor battery maintenance accelerates aging.

[beach cart]

Johnnie thanks for the detailed explanation it always helps to really understand. The first full charge till shut off lasted only 5.5 miles. These new trojans gas loud and the smell is more distinct then the old batteries deka gc45's. They re doing their job, yes tyey are on the right charger profile. It took a good 9 mile run to get to 49.7 around 75%. It went higher soc after stopping and checking 1/2 hour after stopping. I am being nice a easy on these breakin runs. No jack rabbit starts, (never do that anyway), nice steady 17-20 mph runs. Found a card on seat today from #1 , said Merry Early Xmas gift. New batts. and gifted, doesn't get any better.