Old batteries with desulfator

[MDLNB]

So, I ordered one of those Save a battery charger/maintainers, but I think that I will use it on my cart, not my wife's......at least for right now. My cart has batteries that are less than a year old. My wife has the five year old and abused batteries and I had recently installed a cheapo desulfator. I am curious as to whether or not she gets any improvement on her batteries. I'll give it a few months, and if I don't see any noticeable improvement, I will put the maintainer on it. Honestly, I am surprised that she gets around with her old and abused batteries. As I said earlier, she was out of town for a couple months last summer and I let the batteries dry out. I almost got stranded when I took her cart out one day, and then noticed the poor condition of the batteries. Totally my fault for not checking them while she was gone. But, I filled them up with water and charged them a couple of times and they seem to be doing fairly well to this day. I believe the Trojan brand has proven itself to me. As a matter of fact, she is out in the cart right now. She still insists that the desulfator has already improved the performance of her batteries. I don't see how they could this soon, but I am not going to argue with her. She has a regen type cart and as far as I am concerned, it's a dog. Very slow. I haven't found anyone to modify the regen on it yet.

[Doc]

I ordered one and it just came in today.Looks good. New batteries will be here next Weds. I plan on running this on them from the first day on. It should be an interesting experiment but with all the positive feedback given here, why should I even bother going back to the original (and heavy!) Club Car charger?

[MDLNB]

Originally Posted by Doc

I ordered one and it just came in today.Looks good. New batteries will be here next Weds. I plan on running this on them from the first day on. It should be an interesting experiment but with all the positive feedback given here, why should I even bother going back to the original (and heavy!) Club Car charger?

I guess it depends on how fast you need the batteries re-charged, right? We use our carts almost daily so a slow charge may not be fast enough, unless that little battery maintainer can charge the batteries back up over night. I will probably use the old/big charger to give it that fast charge and then use the maintainer on it when I am not using the cart. I use a batterytender on my cheap motorcycle battery, purchased from Walmart and it still works after five years.

[tag50]

I'm not a battery expert, but I believe you're going to need that charger for the first 20 "break-in" cycles to get the most out of those new batteries.



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[Doc]

Originally Posted by tag50

I'm not a battery expert, but I believe you're going to need that charger for the first 20 "break-in" cycles to get the most out of those new batteries.



.

I was wondering the same thing...can anyone confirm this?

[scooterman]

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...batteries.html

[Doc]

Thank you Scooterman-VERY informative.

[Sergio]

Unlike car batteries where You mostly have a surface charge, golf cart batteries with their thick plates have a different charging requirement where the charging current is a factor on how "deep" they can be charged.

Since a lot of folks here respect the DPI chargers, here is a quote from their FAQ:

However, a battery that has been discharged due to use, cannot be recharged to a satisfactory level using a Float / Maintenance charger regardless of time charging - an intelligent multi-stage charger must be used

https://dpipower.com/store/index.php/faq/#Q18

[MDLNB]

My batteries on my cart are almost a year old and broken in. Therefore, I plan to use the battery maintainer on mine AFTER using the regular charger to give it a fast charge after each use. The maintainer that I have purchased, has a desulfator built in so that should fit my needs. After using a BatterTender for many years, I am a believer in their(maintainers) being useful in prolonging battery lifespan.

Like I said before, I installed a simple/cheap desulfator on my wife's OLD, weak and abused batteries to see if they really do make a difference. The one that I hardwired to the batteries does not seem to have caused any damage or debilitation to her batteries. She even seems to think that her cart is working better (even though I hardly see how in such a short period of time).

I am interested in hearing from others that have had desulfators on their carts for a longer period of time. Someone that has had it on their batteries for perhaps a year or more, to hear of their experience.

As far as I am concerned, IF any of these inexpensive products prolong a set of batteries by a couple of additional years, then they are well worth the small investment. My wife and I use our golf carts for our main mode of transportation, on a daily basis, so this is more than just a hobby.

My interest/goals/aims are:

How much distance can I maximize on my electric cart
How can I get as much lifespan from my batteries as possible
How much speed can I tweak from my old cart

And all the above are related to personal economics, of course.

[passthru]

I just ordered one, thanx. My batteries are just over five years old. They are still fairly strong with decent longevity. However the Powerdrive 2 charger doesn't always cycle to give me the charge maintenance I need. For example I left the lease on the 18th with the charger running. I returned on the 27th before the charger, or if the OBC controls this, had time to cycle again and my batteries were not at peak. That's not a good thing. I need it ready to go when I get there. Hopefully this will help.