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Electric EZGO Electric EZ GO Marathon, Medalist, TXT and RXV.



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Old 06-14-2022, 08:06 AM   #1
rgs80074
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Default battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

Hello Everyone,

My mother has a 1991 ezgo marathon 36v golf cart.

she's been having some problems with it, some times I does not go just makes a click, can not seem to get it to 100% charge and it seems to drain down to 69% rather quickly sometimes up to 5% just sitting around over night after being charged.

I did a test last time I was there but the multimeter I was using its untrustworthy so will be taking another one over next time to retest.

however I noticed something on the batteries that makes me think the issue maybe in the batteries itself/charging system.

think the charger is a ezgo txt charger up to 25 amps, maybe 20amps not sure and I think its too big for the system and when the batteries was undercharged it overcharged them too fast.

anyways what I noticed is like on 3-4 of her 6 batteries right at the positive terminal it bulges up where the other ones are flats so I am thinking that's a problem right there and they need to be replaced.

being a 36volt system instead of 6 6volt batteries could you go with 3 12volt batteries instead.

if so I was thinking a battery like this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Mighty-Max-...tor/5000027941


Thanks everyone, I seem to learn something new everyday I came to the site.

Ryan
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Old 06-14-2022, 08:44 AM   #2
cartdoc1969
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

It sounds if the batteries are needing replaced. You can try charging each one separately with a 6 volt charger and see if that helps. If you do replace them stay with the six 6 volts. They will give you more storage and longer run times. I would recommend US Batteries or Trojans.
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Old 06-14-2022, 10:57 AM   #3
radioman
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

As cartdoc1969 recommended I would not replace two 6-volt batteries with one 12 volt especially the ones from Lowes in your posted link. I am guessing the existing batteries have not been properly maintained. Bulges around battery terminals are a bad sign. These are lead acid batteries in your cart and they contain sulfuric acid which you have to be careful not to get it on you. As batteries charge and discharge over time the electrolyte needs to be topped off with water (preferably distilled water) to keep the plates covered. Removing the battery caps for inspection would probably reveal the electrolyte is not covering the plates. Golf cart batteries are expensive. Six Trojan T-105 batteries can cost around $800 and I recommend them but I would shop around for alternate less expensive batteries for an old cart. Working on a old golf cart can teach you a lot. I would guess your charger may be ok.
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Old 06-14-2022, 01:40 PM   #4
bronsonj
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

A normal 6V golf cart battery is over 100 amp hours. Anything from 105ah to 180ah. The one you linked to is 35ah... If you bought three of those batteries you'd spend $240 and they'd be destroyed very quickly and have almost no range.

Also changing from six 6v batteries to three 12v batteries is always a downgrade. Even if you get the Trojan brand, golf cart specific 12v batteries. The trojans will work but we see on the forum time and again that three 12v batteries don't have the range and have a shorter lifespan.

No matter what battery you go with make sure it says it is a GOLF CART battery. Normal 'deep cycle' or 'marine' batteries just aren't built for the torture a golf cart battery is designed for (different lead plate design and thicker plates on golf cart batteries).
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Old 06-14-2022, 02:18 PM   #5
Volt_Ampere
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

As these guys say, you can't go cheap on batteries or you will be throwing your money away and you will be very disappointed. Especially with a 36V system, you need very good heavy duty golf cart batteries to handle the load on them. Cheap does NOT work!
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Old 06-18-2022, 12:21 PM   #6
rgs80074
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

thanks everyone for the advice. I was thinking on those other batteries because I was told about them but just was not sure they was the way to go.

As far as maintenance on the batteries she claims she checked them every 2 weeks and made sure they was properly filled with distilled water.

The batteries are not all that old, about 2-3 years the ones that was on the cart when she got it was a mix match of 8-12 years old.

all her current batteries are from rural king golf card batteries, think now they are running like 120 bucks each.

I just worry about buying new batteries and having the charger be an issue that caused those to go bad.

the charger is for a txt looks be be like 25amp with a sb50 connection. odd its mounted to the cart itself not sure why but the cable that plugs into the port to charge by the batteries is very hard to get in seems almost like partially melted and it will wiggle its way out a lot when charging.

so the cart my understanding calls for a 15amp charger thinking about getting one like this for it
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NPWNHD4...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

of course that would require the plug in port having to be changed to accept it but thats not a problem. think this would be better than the sb50 connection she has, i would just change out the connections but not sure i have the right tools for the charger cord to do that.

thanks again you all are wonderful
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:08 PM   #7
slashpine
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

Quote:
Originally Posted by rgs80074 View Post
thanks everyone for the advice. I was thinking on those other batteries because I was told about them but just was not sure they was the way to go.

As far as maintenance on the batteries she claims she checked them every 2 weeks and made sure they was properly filled with distilled water.

The batteries are not all that old, about 2-3 years the ones that was on the cart when she got it was a mix match of 8-12 years old.

all her current batteries are from rural king golf card batteries, think now they are running like 120 bucks each.

I just worry about buying new batteries and having the charger be an issue that caused those to go bad.

the charger is for a txt looks be be like 25amp with a sb50 connection. odd its mounted to the cart itself not sure why but the cable that plugs into the port to charge by the batteries is very hard to get in seems almost like partially melted and it will wiggle its way out a lot when charging.

so the cart my understanding calls for a 15amp charger thinking about getting one like this for it
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NPWNHD4...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

of course that would require the plug in port having to be changed to accept it but thats not a problem. think this would be better than the sb50 connection she has, i would just change out the connections but not sure i have the right tools for the charger cord to do that.

thanks again you all are wonderful
FWIW...I bought one of those MODZ MAX 36V 15Amp chargers...one month after the warranty expired it died...no help from their tech support about repairing etc...
...This time I bought the upgrade circuit board for the PowerWise charger that came with the cart it was about $50 also replaced the diodes and the 50A fuse...works like a charm...very easy repair...lots of YouTube videos on the topic...

Good Luck...
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Old 06-19-2022, 10:14 AM   #8
rgs80074
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

well the charger that came with the cart is not the correct one, its a ezgo txt charger.

so much on the cart was hobbled together. its got speaker wire from the ignition to the power and such. other wires for back running lights was dangling so low it got snagged and ripped off (thats another project). the batteries that came with it was a mix matched of them 8-10 years old. all of those was replaced but the current batch is about 3 years old and seems most of them need to be replaced.


I think the charger was the main issue. Not sure if its the charger itself (i think its a 25amp charger) but its the connections sb50 i think that's the real issue. it vibrates loose and i think that's when there's issues. I want to switch to a different kind per advice of a golf cart guy that used to work on her cart but no longer travels out that far.

i know i can replace the end on the charger and replace in input and wires on the cart I am not sure I have the ability to crimp new ends on the charger.

but want a new one for her I am not sure that one has any kind of protection to avoid over charging the batteries and I think thats what happened to the current ones.

ryan
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Old 06-21-2022, 12:54 PM   #9
coosa
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

Your charger might indeed be bad and the main problem, but the fact that it was for a txt instead of a Marathon should not make any difference. That just indicates that the charger is newer than the cart, and it should have charged the Marathon just fine as long as it was in working order. I charged a Marathon for years with an old 30 amp Lester charger. The Marathon died and I changed the connector and now it charges a txt and does it very well. If your EZGO charger works right, it will be a much better charger than the one on Amazon.

I would try to replace the connector and go from there. Good luck getting it right.
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Old 06-21-2022, 09:46 PM   #10
rgs80074
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Default Re: battery question, maybe stupid but I don't know anything about them

Quote:
Originally Posted by slashpine View Post
FWIW...I bought one of those MODZ MAX 36V 15Amp chargers...one month after the warranty expired it died...no help from their tech support about repairing etc...
...This time I bought the upgrade circuit board for the PowerWise charger that came with the cart it was about $50 also replaced the diodes and the 50A fuse...works like a charm...very easy repair...lots of YouTube videos on the topic...

Good Luck...
ok how or what would i do on this, I have no idea where or what this means other than upgrading the charger. How would I search for that and what kinds of tools would one need sounds like something soldering and such might be in order.
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