Need advice quickly

[Cecilt]

What is the best way to test each battery. Sould I take my cart to advance auto or something? I fully charged the batteries on Thursday and drove it on Saturday. Parked it Saturday night and all day Sunday and tried to move it today and nothing. Tks for all the help. I don't mind replacing all of them but need to do it before Thursday. Where can i get good batteries by Thursday? Ther is a golf cart store I town but I would imagine their prices would be pretty steep vs Internet pricing. Any ideas on cast. Tks

[scottyb]

Okay, Battery testing is generally done 'under load'. The one battery has lost a cell at a standstill. Depending upon the age and condition of the rest of them, you could try one but, be prepared to return to the store for 5 more.. Most home owners and auto parts houses have no way to properly load test a golf cart battery. Few people possess a 350 amp load tester. However, your golf cart motor will act as a load tester if the cart is running. It is a matter of attaching a meter to each battery for a reading while the cart is under a load.
But in this case it might be best if your batteries are more than a few yrs old to go ahead and replace them.

Just note that this is not the best thing you can do for a new set of batteries. New batteries are only 75% of their capacity and need many shallow discharges and recharge cycles to achieve full power.

How old and what type and model are the old batteries?

[Cecilt]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Just note that this is not the best thing you can do for a new set of batteries. New batteries are only 75% of their capacity and need many shallow discharges and recharge cycles to achieve full power.

How old and what type and model are the old batteries?

I bought the cart 3 years ago and it had supposedly new batteries installed. They are are a no name battery. Can't find any model name on them. I also let the water level get low last summer when riding at the beach. Cart almost died a few times. In addition I had a stereo hooked up to the pack (actually the installer hooked it up to the same 2 batteries my lights were running off of. At the end of the summer I installed a separate 12 v to run the stereo and lights off of. Based on what happened last summer I bet I have 1 or a few bad batteries. I think I will replace.

What do you mean about the 75% in your post? Where should I get batteries at a store. Don't have time for the Internet. What brand? Advance auto had some for 125/battery

Tks for the tips.

[scottyb]

The batteries are the heart of the cart.
You can't run a bull on a calf's heart.
Get a battery specifically made for a golf cart. Get the biggest battery you can afford not the cheapest battery you can find.
The cart is designed to run on Trojan T105 batteries. They are 220 amp hour batteries. Read that again.
When you are out shopping and the sales man says these nice batteries are on sale. You ask how many amp hours are they. He says 180, you say what have you got in 220-225 amp hour batteries.
When you get them home and installed, check the water & plug the charger in and let it charge until it stops if it takes all night and half the morning! Let it finish. Ride the cart for ten-15 min and do it again. When the charger finishes' repeat 10 minute ride and charge until it stops, keep doing that until you have to go. Then once at the camp ground charge as often as you can and do not overtax them, new batteries are not full strength until they have cycled many, many times.
Oh and remember, all that stuff you told me you did to the old batteries? Don't do that again, you probably shortened their useful life by 2 years or more.
Trojan T105
Crown CR225
US2200
these are a few of the good ones.

Good luck

[yurtle]

Locally is pretty much the only option for batteries, as you not only have to get the new ones, you'll have to return the old ones.

You'll have to spend some time doing it the old fashioned way, by calling place to place. You'll be dropping hundreds of dollars, so consider driving up to an hour to drop off the cores and pick up the new ones. Ask if they deliver. Mine did.

[yurtle]

Also, it sounds like you didn't take very good care of your batteries. That alone probably doesn't account for the one (or more) which sounds like an internal failure. However, proper care can make the difference between a pack lasting two to three years, and one giving five years (average) or in my case, nine years to the month.

Go here:

http://www.cartsunlimited.net/

and read up on proper care and maintenance of your new batteries. Trojan's website also has a good section with videos and .pdfs.

You're gonna invest a LOT for good batteries, it's worth a few hours to learn how to get your money's worth.

[Cecilt]

Is the 220 amp hours tied to another number such as 20 HR rate AH. Found a Deka at Oreillys for $110 but all they could tell me was it was 448 reserve at 25 amp. It owns a CG2 model CG110DT. Tks

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Cecilt

Is the 220 amp hours tied to another number such as 20 HR rate AH. Found a Deka at Oreillys for $110 but all they could tell me was it was 448 reserve at 25 amp. It owns a CG2 model CG110DT. Tks

That is a 230AH battery. It has an Amp-Hour rating that is slightly better than standard.

Here is a list of commonly available Golf cart batteries. It is three up from the standard (Green highlighted)

[Rickochet]

Originally Posted by Cecilt

Is the 220 amp hours tied to another number such as 20 HR rate AH. Found a Deka at Oreillys for $110 but all they could tell me was it was 448 reserve at 25 amp. It owns a CG2 model CG110DT. Tks

Just curious, but what are the numbers and letters stamped on the battery lead posts? It should be one letter followed by one number. An example would be C9 which would be March 2009.

[Cecilt]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

That is a 230AH battery. It has an Amp-Hour rating that is slightly better than standard.

Here is a list of commonly available Golf cart batteries. It is three up from the standard (Green highlighted)

Great! I can get 6 of these locally for $660. Trojans are $800 so think I'll go with the SuperStart by Deka. Thanks for all the help and hopefully this will fix my problem.