'98 DS charging problem

[lizardman]

Dad went and put some Sam's club batteries in his 6-8v cart a couple of years ago.

Lately, it has been charging all night and still not turning off. He kkeps the batts clean and properly watered as well as tight cables. Everything is stock with his cart.

Now, I had all idea that the batts were bad, but when they have a full charge, they test at 8.4v(not sure if that is good or bad). I guess that the batts could still be wearing out though.
The other thing that I wonder may affect the charging is the air temperature in his shop bldg. It has been hot as Hades here in SC for over a month with 30+ 90 degree and some 100+ days. It is so hot in his shop in the middle of the day, it almost takes your breath. Could the temp affect the charging?

Any other ideas are welcome.

BTW, The 4-12v in my cart have been caught boiling, but not spilling lately as well, but I have not noticed any problems charging my cart.

Thanks,
Rod

[shadowman]

are they 12 volt deep cycles? not 12 volt golfcart batteries?.............if so they are on their way out.......do your dad a favor put golfcart batteries in it.......yes they are going to cost more money but if he takes care of them they will last a lot longer and give the cart more runtime and power...........................

[scottyb]

High temperatures are harder on batteries than the cold. Batteries heat up while charging. It is best to charge at night when the daytime temps are high...

Batteries do not 'boil' but they produce hydrogen gas which bubbles up through the water and sounds like boiling. Gassing, as it is called, is a normal occurrence. The predominant causes of excess gas generation are excess charging voltage and/or high temperature. Excessive gassing will evaporate water so be sure to check & replenish water levels.

[shadowman]

Originally Posted by scottyb

High temperatures are harder on batteries than the cold. Batteries heat up while charging. It is best to charge at night when the daytime temps are high...

Batteries do not 'boil' but they produce hydrogen gas which bubbles up through the water and sounds like boiling. Gassing, as it is called, is a normal occurrence. The predominant causes of excess gas generation are excess charging voltage and/or high temperature. Excessive gassing will evaporate water so be sure to check & replenish water levels.

scotty i don,t think we should post replies on the same thread...........people might talk..............................

[lizardman]

Reading comp 101 - I posted about my dads DS with 6-8v batts.

Any ideas on those??

Rod

[shadowman]

yeah i should have read it better......i think he answered it.........ok so my advice still stands for you......................

[gaminde]

no matter what batteries I really don't think the charger should go longer than 16 hours if so you need to do some OBC testing

[lizardman]

Do you think it could be a case of weak low-end batts, though? Or if they may be soon to fail?

Also, dad explained that it is not running longer than 16 hours. And, he is charging it during the coolest hours available-(overnite). He may plug it in in the evening and it just wouldnt cut off by morning. So, we are talking only about 12+/- hours of charging. The OBC light appears to be working properly and the charger appears to be functioning properly. It is just taking much longer now to charge the batts than it has historically been doing so. For example, as little as he uses the cart, it would only take 4-6 hours to charge before.

Oh, and shadowman, I meant to put a smile in the post about Reading comp 101. Sorry, I dont want to offend with a seemingly smart a$$ comment.

Rod

[gaminde]

do not know about the batteries shadowman is better with that testing, let it run for 16 hours and lets see if it turns off. you could have one or more bad batteries or connections.

I know all about the smart a$$ comments, tone of voice and other body language do not come through when typing!!!!!

[shadowman]

no need for sorries, no one ever has to do that with me......i misread your post and you pointed it out..........as for the batteries i,m not a battery expert but if you went thur the testing and load testing, checked the cells all that combined will give a pretty clear picture...........only other thing to do is have them tested with one of those discharge machines but i don,t think just anyone or any shop is going to have one...............8. 4 is kinda iffy to start...........and yes that kind of heat dosn,t help but if they load test ok and SP is good in all cells if your dad isn,t concerned about some decreased run time they may last another year or two...........as for the charger if everything is ok with the system the charger is going to time out after 16 hours so it should never run longer than that.....but if the batteries are starting to fail the charger is going to run longer than normal.........i know you want to know should they be replaced and honestly i can,t answer that, if they load test ok and cells are ok i would say no not yet........i would however keep a close eye on them and remember regardless that charger should shut off at 16 hours if its not theres a problem.......................