Battery question

[brownleaf]

1997 EZGO DCS system 48v, stock motor w/ alltrax 400. Bought 4 new batteries(Sams) ran them for 2 mos then bought 4 more to even out the set.Having short run times now.Seems like the older 4 won`t charge pass 6.12v, while the newer 4 will charge up to 6.4v.The older 4 will go down to 5.8v after about 30 min, Can 4 batteries all be bad at once? only 6 mos old......All connections wire brushed and cleaned.

[scottyb]

Yes, the 4 older new batteries could be damaged from being charged with the 2 old batteries.
The reason you should not mix new batteries with old batteries (even 5:1 is a bad mix) is because the charger is looking only for total voltage before cut off. What happens during the charge is the new batteries recharge quickly and then over charge waiting for the old slower batteries to come up to meet the voltage cut off mark. This overcharges the new batteries and does damage them.
What will happen now? Your 2 newest batteries will be reduced to the level of the 4 within a couple of months.
All you can do now is keep your water levels correct and your pack charged... it's a wait and see what you have got thing now....

P.S.
New batteries are not 100% off the shelf, they need to be cycled many times before they reach their potential.
There is a lot of battery info on my website.

[ab46501]

I'm not a fan at all of the Sam's batteries. I tried them and they were a waste of money for me.

I don't know if they have a warranty on them or not but if it was me I would try taking them back to Sam's and see if at the very least they would exchange them for new ones.