Batteries needing more water lately.

[Sideways]

Wondering if I have an issue on the horizon as the 3yr old 8v Duracell's in my 1994 Medalist (alltrax SR48400 controller) as they are starting to use more and more water lately. I have been adding about a half gallon of distilled water to all 6 batteries every 2 weeks for the past 2 months.
The cart is always plugged into the charger when not using the cart.
It is the middle of summer and I do use the cart daily to golf 18-27 holes as well as travel the half mile each way to and from the golf course.
I did add a battery desulfator 4 months ago.
Is using this much water normal for the amount of usage?
Thanks

[JohnnieB]

8V batteries hold about 7 quarts of electrolyte, so a 48V pack has about 42 qts, or 10.5 gallon, so 0.5 gallons every 2 weeks is about 0.2% per day. That is significant, but not outlandish and you are using the cart daily.

Can you nail down the miles traveled a little better?

Also, what is SoC after you get home?

The desulfator may be upping the water usage some. What Make/Model is it?

What is the Make/model of your battery charger?

Water usage tends to increase as the batteries age, but it sounds like you take good care of your batteries, so their lifespan my be closer to to 5 or 6 years rather the the more typical 3 or 4.

-------------
Listen for boiling sounds (gassing actually) while the batteries are charging or the desulator is operating, that's when the water is being used. (Water is being converted to Hydrogen and Oxygen gasses through electrolysis and escape through the gas vents after bubbling to surface.)

[Golf cart guy]

Is the charger automatic? Have you paid attention to how long the cart has been charging after you use it?
Your batteries are a low grade Deka, so they could be going out. Checking the batteries while on the charger, near the end of the charge cycle could tell you if you have a battery that is holding the pack up and causing it to charge longer than should be.

[Sideways]

Johnnieb - I will have to monitor and document actual mileage, SOC when I get home is usually between 49 and 50volts. (SOC after12hrs rest is 51.2 to 51.4volts)
The desulfator is a BLS 48n made by Battery Life Savers.
My charger is a DPI Gen4, I contacted Duracell and DPI to get their recommended settings. (Both companies made identical recommendations)
I can only recall maybe 3 times since the batteries and charger were new when I have smelled the rotten eggish odor when the charger was connected.

Golf cart guy - Charger is a DPI Gen4. I haven't noticed any additional time it takes to charge the pack.
I have on a couple of occasions played golf in the morning, come home put the charger on the cart for a couple of hours and taken the cart off the charger before the charge cycle was completed to use the cart but I always put the charger back on when done using the cart.

Cart is running great and I do not have any issues (knock on wood) other than the batteries using more water than they have in the past.
Thanks again

[Swan]

I never got better then 3.5 to 4 yrs out of two sets of well kept Duracells . I would start saving your pennies time is no longer on your side .

[JohnnieB]

@ Sidways:
Adding the BLS may be the reason for the increased water usage.

@ Swan:
My Exide batteries will 8 years old this November.

Of course, I designed the 42V pack to give me a 30+ mile range and I seldomly drove more than half of that and never more than about 1/3 of that these days, so my overall average SoC is exceptionally high and the WV climate is fairly benign for batteries.

Two of the major cradle to grave longevity factors after proper charging and watering are Average SoC and Climate.

Attached is a chart showing the effect of average SoC for popular brands of cart batteries and a map showing average life expectancy for various climates.

[Swan]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

@ Swan:
My Exide batteries will 8 years old this November.

I wasnt knock your batteries you have done well with them (unless exide made them for duracell). I am speaking from my experience with sams club 8 volt Duracell batteries . i had two set over the years (helped when you can get them tax free) and never got better then 4 yrs out of them. the set I have now are trojan 875 and in oct they will be 5 yrs old and still going strong .

[Sideways]

Thanks Johnnieb!

[Cobra,1]

You mention “rotten egg smell”. Check each cell with hydrometer. I only say this because in the past, few times I smelled that odor it usually let to a bad,weak cell in a battery. Might be worth checking. At worse will help tell health of battery condition.
FYI was always taught to never remove charger from batteries until charging cycle is completed. Doing so can cause batteries to not properly Charge and balance.

My previous 6 year plus Trojans used to need water every 3 charges.
My 1 year old US batteries have needed water maybe 4 times.

Johnnie B nice chart. Thanks😊

[Sideways]

Thanks Cobra, I haven't had the smell in over a year.
These batteries have been in the cart about 3 years now.

I read a couple of posts on here when I was rebuilding the cart a few years ago that stated it was ok to take the charger off before completing the charge cycle.