4yr trojans dead or new charger not engaging

[eltesoro1]

I just got a Lester Summit Series 48v charger to replace my charger that got left in the rain by my father-in-law

The cart sat for two months with no charger on it under a cover stored outdoors.

I put the new charger on it tonight and the charger would not even start to charge.

The batteries did need water which i added. They are 4 years old (almost to the day) but I would say they had below average miles on them.

Before my other charger died due to the rain the cart and batteries ran well.

Why will the charger not at least try to charge the batteries?

[teecro]

Did ya think to put a meter across the battery pack and measure overall pack voltage? Many systems are set up to not allow the charger to come on if the voltage is too low. In the case of a 48 volt cart I think the threshold is 42 volts. If your voltage is too low try using a 12 volt automotive charger across 2 batteries at a time to perk them up to over 7 volts each, you can also perk the batteries one at a time with the 12 volt charger but be wary and don't did this for more than 10 to 15 minutes per battery.

[eltesoro1]

Good idea. Yep, i checked each battery and they were all below 2.

With them being that low, is the pack salvagable?

[Volt_Ampere]

Chargers are designed not to start charging if the battery voltage is too low. You need to boost each battery up with an auto battery charger to get the pack voltage high enough for the charger to kick in. Your batteries have suffered some damage by sitting this way. If they are 4 years old, you may be in for a new set.

[eltesoro1]

to boost each battery do need i to unhook the individual battery from the pack?

[cgtech]

nope

[Volt_Ampere]

You can leave them all connected. Just connect your charger to one at a time and make sure you get the polarity correct or you will reverse charge the battery.

[eltesoro1]

only one of them would charge with the 12 volt charger. it had 5 volts before it started. the rest of them had 1.86 to 2.11. The 12 volt charger would not engage on them.

I wonder if my old charger was really dead or if the batteries had died. Too late now to know.

Do i stick with Trojans or are there recommendations for others?

[cgtech]

i suggest converting to 6x T-875 8v batteries. more lead equals longer range and increased lifespan. its very easy to convert the area between the current batteries to hold 2 more 8v batteries. no cutting, drill two holes, screw 2 brackets in place.

[eltesoro1]

Originally Posted by cgtech

i suggest converting to 6x T-875 8v batteries. more lead equals longer range and increased lifespan. its very easy to convert the area between the current batteries to hold 2 more 8v batteries. no cutting, drill two holes, screw 2 brackets in place.

That is what i have in it today.