Charger/battery info

[carguy]

I realize I am putting myself at great risk of being flamed here, but here goes.

We are gonna do the "snow bird" thing and leave the '05 Precedent in Phoenix next summer.

I am open to ideas regarding keeping the batteries charged during the summer months when we are not there. The cart will be in a garage, and I can have somebody look at the cart every ????? whenever.

I have talked/emailed with a couple of battery charger companies and they have suggested wiring the batteries in parallel and using a 12 volt charger.
So the all electronics for the cart would be disconnected and the cart is serving only as a place to keep the batteries.

The charger - be it convential, or a square wave (de-sulfater) - would "see" one 12 volt battery.

I got my asbestos skivvies on, so lets have your thought's and ideas.

THANKS, Dave

[Katshot]

You ARE brave.
When you say "..during the summer months..." how many months are you talking about? Fully charged batteries with no drain could last a few months without any kind of input from you, and suffer no ill affects. I guess the "ideal" situation would be to keep them on a float charger but it may not be necessary.

[gornoman]

Train someone to keep the battery water at the correct level, and if possible have them go for a 30 minute ride once a month followed by a complete charge cycle. This would be the BEST solution, and it costs ZERO $.

[scottyb]

THat's a great idea Gman. Somebody should start a snowbird cart service.

[impalass88]

Check into one of these Soneil trickle chargers. they are available in either 36 or 48 volt. You can just disconnect the main leads to the cart and leave the whole pack tied together. It will charge all the batteries together at once. It is a fully automatic charger, you can leave it on indefinetly. I would then hook this up to a timer and have it come on for maybe 4 hours every other day. Have someone stop by periodacally and check the water levels. This should keep your pack "fresh".

http://soneil.com/36_volt.html
http://soneil.com/48_volt.html
http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-...SON3616SR.html
http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-...on4808SRF.html

[GLEEMO]

If you have a modern Club Car 48 Volt charger it will take care of this itself , Just leave it plugged into the cart.
It will come on every xx days , check the pack Voltage and charge if requires and then turn off to wait again .
Make sure before leaving you have added distilled water to the correct mark .
I leave a cart here in NC and one in TN and they are always plugged in !

[carguy]

A BIG thanks to all.

Didn't realize I could hook up charger and let it go!

I will have somebody come over to the house every 3-4 weeks & check water level.

Thanks again, Dave

[gornoman]

Originally Posted by carguy

A BIG thanks to all.

Didn't realize I could hook up charger and let it go!

That depends on the specific charger, just so ya know.

[mikesmotortoys]

Tough call here. I'd charge 'em up and leave it unplugged - you can always force charge them, if needed...

[carguy]

Hi Gang,

I have a Club Car "Powerdrive2" charger, and the cart is an '05 Precedent.

Would that combination be safe to leave hooked up to the cart, in the garage, in Phoenix for 6 month's? The garage is a southern exposure so I'm guessing it gets to at least 120 (+ -) in the summer.

OR would some other combination, configuration be adviseable? Soneil charger as suggested by impalass 88 (thanks)?

Thanks for your help, Dave