Can I switch tow/run with the key switch?

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by WalterM6

The problem with running it off the keysw is with the sw off you lose your rollaway braking.

Good point....

[alchemy]

Originally Posted by WalterM6

The problem with running it off the keysw is with the sw off you lose your rollaway braking.

I think I don't want that anyway, or the regen. I would like to have a good ole pedal lock though. I think that was the greatest invention ever made for a golf cart.
Meanwhile, I'm back to voltage loss I just noticed yesterday. This cart is ridiculous for that. I charged it and maybe 12-24 hrs later it was 51.1 then maybe the next day sitting and then going to use it, it was 50.3. That's after I reconnected everything after a month of trying various things to see how much it goes down over time. That was with the tow switch on run, key off, FNR in N, no wires connected except the mains and one black wire on the end neg. With it in tow it probably would have been 50.9 at that point.
Those same batteries while in my yamaha would probably be 3 months before it dropped like that just sitting. I think I'm being forced to accept that I can't use this cart on my place except the lower flat smooth part and for hauling stuff around down there which it's great for. I'm afraid I can't maintain it just for that though and sitting most of the time.

[alchemy]

edit, it could have been two days to go from 51.1 to 50.3. I'm calling 50.9 the stable point after charge. Again, with it in tow, it's maybe 50.7-50.8 after two days. In run it might be 50.6. If I forget and leave it in F or R with the key off and in run it goes down faster. With the key on I can actually watch it go down. It comes back up when off but lost some. My first guess is they are supposed to do this because I can't believe there is still a short somewhere and it seems no one knows so far maybe because they never leave them sit without being plugged. Then I see all this talk about 2,3,4 yr old batteries being bad. Well yeh, if they sit there and charge/discharge all the time. I know these OBC's and chargers are supposed to be "smart" but usually if you leave a charger on batteries 24/7 365, even a 1A trickle charger, it will ruin them way too soon (like one year). If my suspicions were actually true, which I still doubt, I can still vindicate these carts as made for daily constant use where less battery life should be expected. In other words "charge/discharge for nothing is not going to equal charge/discharge for use but it will subtract something on the graph for battery life."

[NoleFan4Ever]

If your batteries are older, they will drop much faster.... Not sure of your age with the batteries.

[alchemy]

Originally Posted by NoleFan4Ever

If your batteries are older, they will drop much faster.... Not sure of your age with the batteries.

They are almost 7 years old but I know them well because I just took them out of my 36V yamaha to put in this cart and added two that were new but sitting about 3 years with a few charges. They didn't go down like that in the yamaha.
In the yamaha with lester II charger they were stable at 6.38 each and the two new ones 6.45 each. There was surprisingly dropping over days in this cart with the two new with the mains disconnected and the variance of the new and old is the only reason I can think of because they didn't drop in the yamaha. However, when the mains are connected in this cart and it's in run, they drop much faster over a few days and even faster if the FNR switch is not at N. With the key on it drops even faster. If it's in tow it seems to draw a little more than if the mains are disconnected but it's not significant. So it doesn't draw significantly or at all in tow mode.
My tests weren't real scientific but I did leave it sit 4-6 days each time I tried something else and recorded the readings each morning over the 4-6 days. I called it done after doing this for about a month.

edit: yes, I think you're right and they probably do drop faster than brand new batteries but I think here with these batteries it's maybe only 20% faster and I don't think they should be dropping anything significant in 4-6 days regardless. I wouldn't want something pulling new batteries down either even if it was less.

[alchemy]

It hit me yesterday that what I'm probably looking for is a spec on what the normal draw is supposed to be. There may not officially be anything on that except notes by the engineers or various dealer mechanics or someone with a perfect cart who recorded the draw.
This evening after I parked I realized there must be some kind of draw coming from roll away braking in order for it to work? Then there is whatever the OBC does to monitor the batteries. Also hear clicks and I think it's at least sometimes with the key off. There is often a click when I sit on the seat like it has a seat switch but I haven't noticed any wires going to the seats. Not sure what else.
Meanwhile a day and a half after charge it was at 50.6 but went to 50.8 in the late afternoon after a record heat wave. Never saw it do that yet so it must have been the heat. Drove it a good bit and it was 50.7.

[alchemy]

Now my batteries are resting at 51.3 after charge. It was 50.9 although it rested briefly at 51.3 before but that knocked down to 50.9 just driving a few hundred feet. Now it's staying above 51.0 with two days of my normal use. I can use it a few days before it needs charged (still doing 80% SOC thing). It's too soon for the electrolyte to be down which will make them higher like that. They did something like that 3 years ago when they were in the yamaha and one or two batteries were sub par but redeemed themselves after a few charge discharge cycles. I actually bought new batteries then assuming they were bad which is why I have 3 year old new batteries sitting around. Too busy right now to look into it much but I've been using this cart for hauling stuff and it's awesome for that. I still haven't even got around to setting the algorithm for these different batteries yet.
Right now I feel pretty happy about it. The draw down from sitting seems less too as long as I use it a lot.

edit, after thinking about this, it would fit the wild idea of it being because the batteries weren't "balanced" that I mentioned here before and that would also fit the incident I just mentioned about the old sub par batteries coming back into line 3 years ago if that was actually the reason for this and that batteries somehow balance themselves. I don't believe it either but maybe some form of this happens? I always wanted to know exactly what happens when you have varying batteries. I used to think that the one or two lesser batteries would just continually draw the others down to it but I have thought for a long time now that is not how it works.