Club Cart New Batteries Draining Quickly

[JohnnyFast]

Hello Everyone,

We recently purchased a used Club Car 1988 DS (36v). We got a good deal on it and the owner said it needed new batteries.

So we purchased 6 new Brutfurce 6v batteries. We drove it around for a bit and battery died fairly quickly.
I let the cart sit on the charger overnight since people online told me it needs a full 24 hours to get a full charge.

The charger I'm using is a Lestronic II and seems to charge but it doesn't shut off on its own so I think we need a new charger as well.
Anyhow after 24 hours I checked the voltage on the batteries and they were at 38.4 volts. Having a full charge I took it out for a spin.

Drove it straight for about 1.5 hours and the batteries started to die and we had to push the cart up the driveway, checked the voltage on it again and it was around 30v. I'm aware they say you shouldn't let the batteries get below 50% and I'm also aware of the break in period on new batteries.

However I would imagine I would get a lot more drive time out of these new batteries? They are only 4 days old. I've read online that you can usually get a few days on one charge on new batteries? So I'm not to sure what's going on here.

Any help or tips is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advanced!

[Budule]

Does that cart have the 5 solenoids or the resistor coils and 1 solenoid ? (88 could be either one)

[Mooncarter]

A couple things here. What type surface are you driving on and how hilly? One and a half hours at 12 mph "straight" as you say is 18 miles. Not the most efficient system and the batteries are not "broken in." Older cart, tire pressure, brake drag etc. could play into this.

Keep charging the batteries. I don't think you have a problem here, but don't let them run down like that.

[Mooncarter]

Also "a few day's use" would be a relative term. You will never get a few day's use out of a charge running it for hours at a time. Never. This cart or any other.

[JohnnyFast]

Budule: to be honest I'm not sure what any of that means? I can get under it tomorrow and try to find out.

[JohnnyFast]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

A couple things here. What type surface are you driving on and how hilly? One and a half hours at 12 mph "straight" as you say is 18 miles. Not the most efficient system and the batteries are not "broken in." Older cart, tire pressure, brake drag etc. could play into this.

Keep charging the batteries. I don't think you have a problem here, but don't let them run down like that.

I live in the suburbs. So mainly being driven on pavement, sometimes grass but it's pretty flat, no hills.

And when you put it that way I guess it is driving a decent distance. it does need new tires so that could also be an issue!

I've seen people online say once you get a full charge it can go days without having to charge again? But then again I know it's an old golf cart so I'm just really not sure how much juice I'm supposed to get per charge.

I'm going to try the drive it for 30 min then put it on the charger for 10-20 times tomorrow to break in the batteries. My sibilings have let the batteries drain pretty low 2-3 times now, I know that's a big no no! Just hope we haven't damaged the batteries already. I'm also going to be installing a voltage meter to prevent this!

Thanks

[Mooncarter]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFast

I live in the suburbs. So mainly being driven on pavement, sometimes grass but it's pretty flat, no hills.

And when you put it that way I guess it is driving a decent distance. it does need new tires so that could also be an issue!

I've seen people online say once you get a full charge it can go days without having to charge again? But then again I know it's an old golf cart so I'm just really not sure how much juice I'm supposed to get per charge.

I'm going to try the drive it for 30 min then put it on the charger for 10-20 times tomorrow to break in the batteries. My sibilings have let the batteries drain pretty low 2-3 times now, I know that's a big no no! Just hope we haven't damaged the batteries already. I'm also going to be installing a voltage meter to prevent this!

Thanks

What I'm trying to say is "a day's use" means different things to different people and their "use."

For example: i have an every day cart I use around my place. I go from 2 shops a hundred feet apart, I have a field I hit golf balls in. I use it ALL DAY but it probably does not go more than a mile or so. So when people say they can go for days without charging that is what they are talking about. It should be charged every day regardless of the distance used. Using a cart hours on end constantly is a HUGE difference.

I have no idea what you mean by putting on the charger 10-20 times tomorrow. If you mean 10-20 minutes that is the WRONG thing to do. Always plug it in and let it run until it shuts off.

[mrgolf]

Are the batteries made for golf carts, or just deep cycle?

[JohnnyFast]

Originally Posted by mrgolf

Are the batteries made for golf carts, or just deep cycle?

The batteries are deep cycle batteries but I spoke to two different Golf Cart shops and they recommend those batteries and said they were good. The old ones were Trojan and I was going to stick with those but they were more exspensive!

[mrgolf]

They will never give you the run time that golf cart batteries will. They are not build for the loads a golf cart will draw.