Power drive 3 charger and run time

[tvj503]

My 2008.5 Club car is in the shop changing out the 4 12s to 6 8 volt batteries. I went with Crown 190s at about $125 each. I'm told the Club Car Power Drive 3 charger will do just fine with the new batteries. That charger does not I believe have a maintainer or desulfate mode? By maintainer I mean one that comes on as soon as it senses even minor discharge. I believe the PD 3 will turn on automatically but only when the batteries have greatly discharged. Does anyone know if that is correct? New batteries are too big of an investment to not charge properly. If I use my cart today for an hour, I recharge tonight but may not use for another week to 10 days. I try to remember to recharge every 3 to 4 days but it's a chore. I've read the tutorials but none seem to address this. Is there a charger better suited for my usage style? Second question: how can I project how much run time generally I will get from a set of 6 8v fully charged batteries? All of my usage is on flat ground or pavement. Thanks for all responses.

[jneubig]

Subscribed. I do not know the answer, but am very curious to find out as well. My cart is used very much like yours.

[Sergio]

The PD3 itself has no smarts, the OBC will turn the PD3 on every 15 days regardless of battery charge level. Unless you have some problem that keeps discharging your batteries, 15 days is often enough to compensate for the self-discharge level of the batteries.

[tvj503]

So you think if I charge after use of course and maybe once a week or so during periods of non use that would be ok.....and that regimen would not adversely affect the batteries?

[thechevyman]

I think you'll be fine. I charge mine afer every use even if its a 20 minute evening drive.

Durring the winter I charge it every 2 weeks.

The OBC is smart enough to know how to charge your cart based on usage.

[Stevegrmich]

. . . I will go out on a limb here and say that the majority of cart owners only utilize their CC charger as the sole source of maintaining their battery pack . . . I personally only use it . . . my cart sits in the garage all winter with the CC charger plugged into it . . . my pack is always at around 51v when I check it . . . the CC charger "magically" maintains the pack . . but that is what it is designed to do (assuming charger/OBC are both functional) . . .

[tvj503]

Well, I feel better now. Thanks for the replies. I had wondered if I needed to be more aggressive with the charging routine particularly with the new batteries. Any advice on break in procedures?