Old batteries with desulfator

[UncleJerm76]

Originally Posted by Powercat

...Also, do these individual units provide a desulphating action as well? I gather others have utilized the option - Save-A-Battery 2365-48 50W maintainer. Is there an opinion one way or the other?

Yes they do. I can only speak for BatteryMINDer (BM) brand because that was the best one when I did my research and purchased 6 years ago. I can tell you one major difference at that time was most others weren’t desulfating once in the maintenance cycle. They only did it on the charge cycle! BM desulfates at every single stage and I don’t know about you but if my cart is going to be sitting there for weeks on a maintenance cycle - I want it to also be breaking up sulfate, not only when it’s charging! Another difference was the way it desulfated the batteries. BM uses a very high frequency to break sulfate apart, some others used pulses of high voltage to break it apart, others used even different methods. BM also has a 5yr warranty. In the end I felt that high frequency & full-time desulfating was important to me. But do your own research, I’m sure there are lots of options out there, a lot can change in 6 years.

If the benefits of desulfating are great and if that’s all you are after BM also makes an on-board full-time desulfator (no charging). You mount it permanently in the cart and it uses the golf carts own battery power to run the process. It used very little power and automatically shut itself off when pack voltage fell to a certain level. If I remember correctly it basically only worked when a higher voltage was applied - i.e., plugging in a charger. So if your current bulk charger was on and running then the on-board desulfator would also kick on and be running at the same time. Unplug the big charger and this would shut off also. But note, you would not get any of the benefits of using individual chargers for each battery, your only getting desulfation with that option.

As far as opinions on which “brand” is better Save-a-Battery seems to work well for forum members here and from what I hear is cheaper also. As for me, I’m sticking with BM after seeing the results for myself. I’ve dropped them and put them through extreme heat in my enclosed black trailer during the hot FL summers and they have never failed me. The important thing is to research, research, research and get the features that are most important to you. I hope something in my rants above helped.

[8-point]

What's your float voltage on those BM's, UncleJerm?

[UncleJerm76]

Originally Posted by 8-point

What's your float voltage on those BM's, UncleJerm?

13.4v is the float voltage for each of the 12Volt BM’s I am using. Also during float the AMP’s drop down to about 1/4 of what they normally are.



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[MDLNB]

Just a bit of an update:
My battery maintainer is still working very well. It is currently hooked up to my old CC DS, 48volt Rat Rod (as I call it).
I disconnected the Chinese desulfator a long time ago and have not reinstalled it. Plus I still have a brand new one that I had intended to use on the other cart. I am not sure that it had any effect. Maybe it did, but I do know that the battery maintainer does a great job and is still hanging in there. We initially us the standard battery charger and then hook up the maintainer. Especially, if the cart is not going to be used for a while such as a week or more. Currently, it is hooked up to my rat rod, CC DS. The analogue meter is currently showing at the red level and maintaining.
No matter what I do with golf cart batteries, it seems that you are hard pressed to exceed the five year mark on their use. To be honest with you, I am thinking of selling mine for what little I can get and picking up an old gasser to restore. I haven't convinced my wife yet. She doesn't think I need another expensive project and my old CC DS does exceed 20 mph most of the time. Even with another passenger. Maybe after I upgrade her seat and put new wheels on hers, she will be more agreeable.

By the way, after all this time she finally told me that she was tired of sitting on the edge of her seat to reach the accelerator pedal. This was the first time I had heard her mention it. SO, I cut off a piece of 2"x3" and put an angle cut on the bottom. I picked up a cheap $1 pair of flip-flops and cut and glued the sole of one onto the wood. Then I trimmed it around the wood and sanded it smooth and even. I drilled several holes in the bottom of the wood and ran nylon wire ties through it and mounted it to the pedal after spraying the whole thing with some black paint. I have to say that she was impressed and said it looked professional. She says it is much more comfortable driving the cart now. One thing they don't have is adjustable seats. But, these things were made for golf not urban transportation.
Not sure how this relates to the original thread about desulfators, but I think that I am done experimenting with mine. A grand idea but I am still withholding my vote for now. My maintainer says it also desulfates, so I will take their word for it.