Battery consumption and voltage #s

[jwracer11]

I'm curious as to initial voltage numbers and battery consumption. I have recently installed Scotty B's voltmeter and after a full charge my batteries read 37.4 -37.7 and while driving they are usually around 35.5. (Now this is usually with one pass down to the mailbox.) We don't ride it around the house much, but will be taking it camping for the first time in a few weeks. I recently acquired the cart (07 TXT PDS) and was told the batteries were a few years old.
What do those numbers tell me about ride time? I am concerned that the family will be off on it all day while camping and the batteries going dead. Do those numbers give me any insight as to the lifespan of the batteries? Thanks for your insight!

[rockfordpi]

Originally Posted by jwracer11

I'm curious as to initial voltage numbers and battery consumption. I have recently installed Scotty B's voltmeter and after a full charge my batteries read 37.4 -37.7 and while driving they are usually around 35.5. (Now this is usually with one pass down to the mailbox.) We don't ride it around the house much, but will be taking it camping for the first time in a few weeks. I recently acquired the cart (07 TXT PDS) and was told the batteries were a few years old.
What do those numbers tell me about ride time? I am concerned that the family will be off on it all day while camping and the batteries going dead. Do those numbers give me any insight as to the lifespan of the batteries? Thanks for your insight!

Those numbers alone do not give you a lot of insight. Also, need to know WHEN you took that reading. You need to wait 12 hours or so after charging to get an accurate voltage reading.

Voltage always drops when under load (the cart is starting or moving). The fact that a battery shows full voltage after charge really does not tell us a lot about its capacity.

I have seen a fully charged (full voltage reading after charge) set of batteries read almost dead after 200 yards. What happened was one battery was "giving up" under load. Voltage drop on the gauge generally is not linear like a traditional gas gauge.

Though every battery in a set may read fully charged, depending of the health of each battery, each may have a different capacity. Only way to know for sure is to load test the pack with a load tester made for golf cart batteries (or drive the cart until it loses power).

[Sideways]

In addition to what Rockford suggested, make sure to keep an eye on water level in each of the battery cells and only use distilled water when needed.

[DaveTM]

https://hespv.ca/blog/deep-cycle-battery-water-levels/

Lots of good info here. Check Part 2 for getting each battery's specific gravity.

[JohnnieB]

The 37.4V to 37.7V is only 79% to 85% charged, IF that reading was taken about 12 hours or so after the charger shut off.

IF it was taken much sooner, the SoC (State of Charge) is even lower.