First Time Charge

[fishb8]

I'm not familiar with a hydrometer. Where can I get one? is one better than another?

[scottyb]

Hydrometer is available at an auto parts house.You want a temperature compensating unit, not the old floating ball types. When using the difference from one cell reading to another within the same battery is as important as the overall readings so be exact in your recordings. Caution: this is battery ACID so wear old clothes, rubber gloves, and eye protection. Keep on looks at a distance. ... Amazon.com: E-Z Red S101 Battery Hydrometer: Automotive

[Gale Hawkins]

For extra years due to the plate cleaning feature and three stage charging this BatteryMINDer is a net no cost option.

http://www.batteryminders.com/batter...n-p-16143.html

After riding for two solid hours yesterday we connected the EZGO automatic charger that came with our 2007 EZGO PDS cart. This morning after 13 hours it had tapered to 2-3 amp rate. Since I was not going to be at the house to wait on the EZGO charger to shut off I just pulled in the BatteryMINDer to finish the charge but mainly to get the Desufator working on cleaning these T-105 batteries that are just over four years old.

The BatteryMINDer weights 4 pounds and the EZGO charger weights 40 pounds so it should be used until shut off or has the battery bank mostly charged because at max this BatteryMINDer can only output 2.7 amps.

With the water at a normal level the BatteryMINDer should be good to use long term because it will start and stop as needed.

Scottyb points out the damage that occurs in a battery that sits without a trick charge 24/7 or is not topped of weekly with the EZGO auto shut down charger.

The BatteryMINDer Desufator only is around $60 so I went with the one above that is about 2x more in cost but can charge safely without human intervention.

The 12v version is very popular in the RV world because many see 6+ months of non use each year and deep cycle batteries are not cheap.

[scottyb]

You are on the right track. I don't recommend interrupting your cart charger. For the most part your charger was likely still in the 5-7 amp range of the leveling or conditioning phase of recharging.


The charger I'm using is charging the cart and maintaining the pack at 100% automatically until unplugged. Once the 2 wire harness is installed on the battery pack the 5.9 pound charger plugs right in & can be used as a stand alone or mounted on board.

My test cart is sitting at 39v ~ happy & waiting That is the beauty of having an in dash digital voltmeter ...
Next test the 48v Club Car.....

[Gale Hawkins]

Thanks. I was wondering about if the charger was programmed to condition/equalize/etc. It was getting near the end of its cycle I think because 9 hours earlier it was down to 5 amp readout on the meter.

After a 20 mile ride I was surprized it only peaked at 12 amps for a few minutes on start of charge then settled on 10 amps and started tapering. I think the bank was at about a rested 36.3 volts when the charger was connected.

The BatteryMINDer had finished up when we got home at 1:45 pm today. It was started about 9 am this morning with the EZGO charged displaying 2-3 amps. Are those meters very accurate?

BatteryMINDer manual states to NOT bring it on line UNTIL the cart charge shuts off.

How low can the voltage go on a PDS EZGO battery pack before the controller shuts down the motor?

[fishb8]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Hydrometer is available at an auto parts house.You want a temperature compensating unit, not the old floating ball types. When using the difference from one cell reading to another within the same battery is as important as the overall readings so be exact in your recordings. Caution: this is battery ACID so wear old clothes, rubber gloves, and eye protection. Keep on looks at a distance. ... Amazon.com: E-Z Red S101 Battery Hydrometer: Automotive

When is the best time to use the hydrometer? right after a full charge? after it sits for an hour?........
Just want to get it right.

[scottyb]

For me it easiest to charge the pack fully, let the charger shut off & disconnect it. Let the pack sit 12 hours and take a voltage reading it should be very close to 38.4 for 36v and 50.9 for 48v... take the readings.... It is best if you have somebody who will write them down for you as you call them out....
To keep track of the info # the batteries 1 - 6 and list 3 readings for each battery.... once you post the voltage of each battery & all the SG info here we can help you determine the condition of the batteries.
Your date may look something like this:
50 degrees at testing ...
Battery #1 6.29v 2.35 2.30.2.25

Originally Posted by fishb8

When is the best time to use the hydrometer? right after a full charge? after it sits for an hour?........
Just want to get it right.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by Gale Hawkins

Thanks. I was wondering about if the charger was programmed to condition/equalize/etc. It was getting near the end of its cycle I think because 9 hours earlier it was down to 5 amp readout on the meter.

After a 20 mile ride I was surprized it only peaked at 12 amps for a few minutes on start of charge then settled on 10 amps and started tapering. I think the bank was at about a rested 36.3 volts when the charger was connected.

The BatteryMINDer had finished up when we got home at 1:45 pm today. It was started about 9 am this morning with the EZGO charged displaying 2-3 amps. Are those meters very accurate?

BatteryMINDer manual states to NOT bring it on line UNTIL the cart charge shuts off.

How low can the voltage go on a PDS EZGO battery pack before the controller shuts down the motor?

About 32v. But this type of usage will shorten the life of your batteries. Wet cell batteries have no memory & there is no benefit to deep discharge; in fact, it is detrimental to them. They want to stay as close to fully charged at all times. Check out this discharge % versus life cycles chart from Trojan Battery Co.
It clearly shows the deeper you discharge the pack the fewer times it will do it .... or is this where the 'battery minder' comes in? Pulsing and reversing the death of a battery? LOL

[Gale Hawkins]

Thanks scottyb for that 32 volt cart shut down figure. I just did not want to be pushing the cart home and did not fine that number in the manual.

The voltage after riding for 20 miles getting us down to the 36.3v level may have dipped below a 50% SOC. I will try to not go below 37 volts on the pack which will give me about a 70% SOC. That is about 10 miles for us but it is good to know what you can do if in a bind.

While I am sold on a battery staying at 100% state of charge and one reason for the BatteryMINDer. I do not think ANYTHING will help extend the life of a deep cycle battery that gets deeply discharged/abused. The BatteryMINDer concept is proven to increase the performance of deep cycle batteries. I had a 48 volt bank loose 50% of their run time based on monthly tests. After using the Desulf Mode on the B&D chargers for three 24 hour timed cycles we regained 50% of the lost from new run time.

As I understand the crystal build up on the plates mainly occurrs when a battery sets at less than 100% SOC. If that is the case then a deep discharge over a two hour period and then the heavy golf cart charger being connected 5 minutes later and left on to fully charged should not support crystal growth.

I expect the BatteryMINDer to put any crystal build up over the past four years back into solution and per the manual that should happen over a two week period of continued use.

After that time it will be more for prevention and to insure a trinkle charge is there anytime it self discharges. We got it under the new shed today so we can charge without being concerned about rain/snow/etc.

Do you know if the stock automatic charger that came with our 2007 EZGO PDS is considered a 'smart' charge or multi-mode charger? I have found NO details on their OEM charger. I see it is about $500 to replace.

[scottyb]

It should have been the Powerwise EQ. Yes, a smart charger and maintainer but not worth the price of replacement. Check out my website. I have lots of battery charge info and tutorial stuff.