First cart...2003 EZGO Electirc

[snella]

I picked up a 2003 EZGO Electric cart yesterday. I go to school in Arizona and got sick of riding my bike all over campus in the heat. The cart came with new batteries and a warranty for 2k. Hopefully I didn't pay too much.

I'm completely new to golf carts and wanted to make sure there's nothing I should do to break in the batteries. Any habits I should get in when it comes to charging/maintenance? Any help for a newbie is much appreciated.

[jwdixon]

Looks good to me. Regarding how to handle the batteries do yourself a favor and go to scottyb's site and read his battery tutorials. Should give you all you'll need.


http://www.cartsunlimited.net/


John

[JohnnieB]

Welcome to BWG

*Charge the batteries fully before using.
*New batteries take a long time to charge, up to 16-18 hrs, and out-gas a lot of hydrogen during the last stages, so watch the electrolyte level and don't let the plates get exposed. Use distilled water only
*New batteries must be broken in properly to get them to hold their full energy capacity. Here is the procedure:
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Batter...n_Methods.html
*The less you discharge the batteries before recharging, the longer they last. (Wet cell batteries have no memory, so keeping them charged at or near max is a good thing rather than a bad thing like it is for NiCds)
*Never discharge below 50% - Irreversable Sulphation occurs.
*Clean/water batteries monthly (More often or less depending on Needs/Usage)
*Place a $10 bill in a Mason Jar every time you service your batteries. That way you will have the money for a new set when you need it.



Added -- to what John said - Scotty has a ton of good battery info on his site.

[snella]

How long can I go on the cart before hitting 50% on the batteries? And I the for my first two charges, I didn't follow those procedures. If I go through them now, should I mostly be ok in the long run?

[select]

Originally Posted by snella

How long can I go on the cart before hitting 50% on the batteries? And I the for my first two charges, I didn't follow those procedures. If I go through them now, should I mostly be ok in the long run?

I only know from reading here in the last few days, but they say to use 9 holes of golf as a guide for going from 100% to 75%.

And they say 20-30 cycles before you should go below 75% or so.

As for your first couple of cycles, I think you'll be mostly fine unless you ran it down to 0%.

[CajunDavid]

Nice looking cart.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by snella

How long can I go on the cart before hitting 50% on the batteries? And I the for my first two charges, I didn't follow those procedures. If I go through them now, should I mostly be ok in the long run?

There are a lot of variables, but with properly broken in new batteries you should get upwards of an hour at WOT (Wide Open Throttle) without discharging too deeply.
I'm basing this guesstimate on getting about 110 minutes out of new batteries during load testing, so I might be off a ways.

How many miles that is depends on which type of cart you have.
If the F/R lever is next to your right knee, you have a Series cart (Series meaning, Series type motor) Top speed 12-14mph with everything stock.
If the F/R switch is adjacent to the Keyswitch you have a PDS (Precision Drive System), which has a Sepex motor (Separately Excited Armature and Field windings)
With the PDS the max speed is determined by which programming plug is installed. Top speed with stock controller, motor, tires and the speed chip installed is about 18mph.

Plug your cart's serial number into this site and it will tell you what you've got, or at least what is was when it rolled out of the factory.
http://www.shopezgo.com/customer-ser...ialNumber.html

Personally, I believe the best way is to install a DVM on the dash and monitor the battery voltage. Attached is a Battery Voltage vs State of Charge chart.
Here is the type of meter I'm talking about (PDS is at Bottom of Page)
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Digita...ry_Meters.html

You can also use a digital multimeter and measure the voltage at various point during your travels to get a feel of how far your cart will go before it needs to be recharged.

As for the batteries, you probably didn't hurt them much. Go forth and sin no more.
Seriously, what has been done, is done, so all you can do is treat them right from now on and you'll get the maximum remaining life and storage capacity out of them.
As long as you didn't discharge them down to the point the cart barely moved and let them set in that discharged state for very long, they ought to be "mostly okay" in the long run.

[kernal]

Originally Posted by snella

How long can I go on the cart before hitting 50% on the batteries? And I the for my first two charges, I didn't follow those procedures. If I go through them now, should I mostly be ok in the long run?

Cart like that should easily do 20 miles before getting to a deep discharge state. ( with good batteries starting from full charge). Mostly driven on pavement I assume. Like an automobile, range will be better if you are gentle on the throttle. Plan for a decrease in range in the winter. Batteries like to operate in the 70-80°F zone so plan for about a 20% decrease in range during the Az winter. (your milage may vary).
Water level in the batteries is critical. Too much and batteries will boil over during charging and accelerate corrosion and also stain the drive way. Too little and the plates will be exposed dramatically shortening the service life. Consider buying a battery fill jug and a DVM(digital volt meter). Don't skimp on the fill jug but a cheap DVM is ok.

EZGOs have universal keys so I would consider changing the key switch to a unique one. Isn't going to stop a determined thief but will deter someone, other than you, from jumping on it to get to class. Good looking cart! Like the decal on the side.

My 2 cents

[snella]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll definitely be picking up a digital voltage meter.

Google maps puts my typical round trip to campus and back at 2-3 miles. I'm often home for 3-4 hours and then head back. Should I always plug the cart in when I get home or just do it once a night and charge to full capacity?

[kernal]

If your daily use is about 6 miles I would wait until you're done for the day then put it on the charger. Let the charger finish whenever you can.