Noob needs some advice on battery replacements

[btbowhunter]

Found this board while googling some of my issues and it seems like you have some knowledgable folks here so here goes....

First, I'm fairly handy with mechanical things but get lost quickly when anything electrical goes beyond the simplest of tasks

I have a 96 club car 48v electric that that I bought a couple years back that was already tricked out for off road use by the previous owner. Lift kit, bigger tires, new controller. It has Trojan 875 8 volts that're about 5-6 years old now. I pretty much use it in hunting season and thats it. It has been stored with the CC 48v charger on through the winter but when I dug it out to get it ready for this hunting season, I saw that the cord had been unplugged at some point. Best guess is probably around May when we dug the boat out. Anyway, tried to move it and all it did was sit and buck. I lifted the seat and found a real mess. Apparently, the 700 mile ride home on the trailer last December spilled a good volume of acid and I have three batteries with the posts rotted off!

I've got em all out of the cart so I can clean up the frame and all and havent load tested them yet but I did put my meter on them and one registers 5.5 volts and the other 5 show 7.5 volts.

All 6 of em are swelled out at the ends which I'm told by some is a bad sign

Question one: is it possible to drill and tap into the terminal post and put a new stud in for the wing nut? Never tried to do this and don't know how deep that main post goes before I break through, (or if I would at all)

Question two: The way they are now, I can't put them back together in series to use the cc charger. Can a 6/12 volt car charger be used safely on these guys? It has an auto and a manual mode but I'm afraid to try this with my limited knowledge in this arena. Don't want to fry something not already fried.

Question 3: Can they be load tested (and what would it tell me) the way they are at 7.5 volts?

Should I even consider replacing less than all 6, if say, a couple are toast and the others are still OK (remember they're all 5/6 years old anyway)

I'm already resigned to the idea that I may have to cough up the cash for 6 new batteries but I don't want to throw money away if these are still salvagable.

Thanks guys, to anyone who put up with reading this through and for any advice you might have!

Bob,
Btbowhunter

[Fishing Dude]

If they are in the cart you can charge with a 12v charger for 20 min watching as you do this till you get them up some. Then you can charge with regular charger but are near the end of life. If you replace replace all not just bad one-ones as it will pull new batteries down.

[Fishing Dude]

Yes you can drill and tap look in stickies

[Fishing Dude]

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/batte...nal-repair.php

Here is how to repair

[btbowhunter]

Thanks Fishing dude!

Exactly what I was looking for

[btbowhunter]

Well, it's as I suspected. Load tested them and four of em are dead dead dead! The other two are marginal at best. On the hunt for 6 new batteries.

Thanks for the help!