36v pack charges to 37.7v - Are they toast?

[JigginJim77]

Hi all. New here and to carts in general. I recently got a 2006 TXT PDS that is proving to be a bit of a project. The batteries are Trojan T105's installed 9/2014. I'm using a Power wise QE charger. Batteries were very discharged when I got the cart. I don't think they were cared for very well. All cells were overfilled, with a fair amount of corrosion. I had to do a base charge on the batteries with my car charger before the Power wise would kick in.

The problem is the pack doesn't want to charge to full charge. The QE is putting out plenty of juice when charging - I've tested it with a DVM at the charging port and at the pack. I get up to 45.5 volts. Once fully charged per the powewise, I measure 38.2 volts after one hour, but after stabilizing the pack is only 37.7v.

I have installed new 2 ga cables and cleaned all connections, but no improvement. Are the batteries shot ?

[Sir Nuke]

Jim....the bottom line really is....YES, they are shot. in the condition they are in....you will find that the run time won't be very long.

[hunt365]

Sounds like they may be toast. What are the individual battery voltages. The charger sounds like it's doing what it should. You could try doing several charges consecutively to see if that helps. Give it a good charge and report the individual battery readings right off the charger and then after sitting for 12 hrs. Welcome to BGW and good luck.

[JigginJim77]

Individual battery results are 6.30, 6.29, 6.29, 6.28, 6.28 & 6.27. Same result 2 days in a row with little to no variance.

[cv2065]

I thought 38.2v was considered a 100% charge?

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by cv2065

I thought 38.2v was considered a 100% charge?

it is......

[hunt365]

I suspect the batteries are heavily sulfated therefore reducing there capacity. As Sir Nuke stated your run time will suffer. 38.2 is a full charge after the pack settles for a while. 12 to 24 hrs. is what most recommend. You should see readings around 45 volts right as the charger shuts off.

[JigginJim77]

Is it worth attempting the Epsom salt method to try to bring them back?

[Whitaker]

So after a full charge can't you unplug the charger and then re plug it in and it desulphate the batteries? Some say it's kinda hard on the batteries but with the batteries being almost at the replacement stage what could it hurt? It may even add a little life back.

[hunt365]

I'm not aware of that method. You can go to the trojan batteries website and read up on an equalization charge. Good info there. As stated earlier, you can run consecutive charges and see if they come up a little, or charge them individually to see if it helps. Sitting in a discharged state is a death sentence for these batteries. I think I would charge them 3 or 4 times back to back and see what happens.