Battery Indicator on the Fritz

[Papayamoo]

Hey all, I am a new, used golf cart owner with little mechanical and electrical knowledge. Looking for some help with the battery indicator that came with the cart. What I have is a 2005 EZGo TXT Freedom with about a year-old Trojan batteries. The cart runs strong and so far I am very happy with it. When I first got the cart, the battery indicator was taped over with black electrical tapes on it and the previous owner didn’t say anything about it and I kinda missed the tape and just assumed the meter is broke and I was going to replace it. After a couple of weeks, I noticed the tape and peel it off to see underneath that the lights was working! We then took the cart out for a ride, maybe for about a mile to a mile and a half and the meter was down about half way. Not knowing if this is reasonable or not, I just assume it is right and put the cart back on the charger. Then a couple days later, my daughter was going to take the cart out and the battery meter was all the way down to the bottom and it was flashing between the last 2 bars...

So here are my questions:

• Is this something I should be worry about? Is it safe to assume the charge indicator is bad or could it be that the batteries in the cart is not being charged fully somehow?

• The battery indicator I have is stock so it’s connect to the key and forward/reverse switch. If I want to replace the battery charge indicator, do I need to replace the whole thing?

• What is the normal range for a 36v EZGo TXT from 2005? Is a couple of miles reasonable or can I expect it to do 10 or 20? Since my kids will be driving around the neighborhood, I don’t want them to lose power halfway home after a full days of running around.

• And finally, is it true that you should not run your deep charge batteries down too much? I am under the impression that I should have it plugged in after every drive but if it was only for a short distance, should I leave it unplugged?

Thanks in advance to any responses. Happy carting!

[orangeman6]

Yes, a properly functioning meter is very important to getting the most out of your batteries. I thought I’ve read that those graph style meters sometimes need to be reset, but I’m not the guy to answer that for sure. However, really doesn’t matter, as the smart guys here will all tell you to get a meter with an actual digital readout.

To know if your batteries are being fully charged, run the charger until it turns off. Wait 10-12 hrs then measure pack voltage, along with each individual battery, with a dvm. Read the numbers to two places. 6.xx, see the attached chart.

2. The new meter would hook up to the existing wires. See cartsunlimited for a meter and some very informative reading.

3. Experts to give better numbers, but 10-20 way more than a couple of miles.

4. Yes, it’s bad to run them too low. Charge them after each use. Again, see chart