Cleaning Under Seat

[cartboy]

Anyone clean under the seat, the battery compartment, regularly. I have always been advised to do that, even by our E Z Go reps over the years.

Now I see this in the manual:

CLEANING BATTERIES
When cleaning the outside of the batteries and terminals,
do not use a water hose without first spraying the
batteries with a solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
and water to neutralize any acid deposits.

Use of a water hose without first neutralizing the acid will
move the acid from the top of the batteries to another
area of the vehicle or storage facility, where it will attack
the metal structure or the concrete/asphalt floor. After
hosing down the batteries, a residue will be left on the
batteries which is conductive and will contribute to the
discharge of the batteries.

To prevent battery damage, be sure that all battery
caps are tightly installed.

The correct cleaning technique is to spray the top and
sides of the batteries with a solution of baking soda and
water. This solution is best applied with a garden-type
sprayer equipped with a non-metallic spray wand. The
solution should consist of 1/4 cup (60 ml) of baking soda
mixed with 1 1/2 gallons (6 liters) of clear water.

In addition to the batteries special attention should be paid to
metallic components adjacent to the batteries, these
should also be sprayed with the baking soda solution.

[kab69440]

I give it all a nice healthy soaking with dish soap and water, but there's no reason that bicarb won't perform the same function. Every couple of months, I use good battery cleaner, too. I very seldom see very much pink. Wait a minute... That did not come out right...

[cartboy]

What I'm saying is that I/we have always been told to lift the seat and spray off everything in the battery compartment each time we wash the carts (every day). I was actually told that if you don't, the battery can discharge by shorting out through the accumulated crud on the top of the batteries.

Now this is say exactly the opposite.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by cartboy

What I'm saying is that I/we have always been told to lift the seat and spray off everything in the battery compartment each time we wash the carts (every day). I was actually told that if you don't, the battery can discharge by shorting out through the accumulated crud on the top of the batteries.

Now this is say exactly the opposite.

Not the opposite, just adds a step.

Since you hose down the batteries daily, you're probably not accumulating much acid on top.
To find out for sure, spray them down with the baking soda mixture and see if it foams very much.

I only take care of one cart, but I charge it daily and service the batteries monthly.
First I spray the batteries, battery frame and general area around the batteries with the baking soda mix.
Brush it around as needed.
Hose it off with water at low pressure.
If there is any dirt or residue left, I follow up with Dawn or something similar and another rinse.

[cartboy]

Not that I think we will do a baking soda clean every day on 65 carts, but how would you?
- - - - - -
Also, the stains on the cart barn floor come from charging overfilled batteries. If you don't leave a 1/2 inch vent gap at the top of each cell, the gas bubbles during charging pushes fluid out the top of each cell.

I've seen many careless cart barn people overfill batteries . . . not even check to see how full the cells are.

[cartboy]

Originally Posted by cartboy

I've seen many careless cart barn people overfill batteries . . . not even check to see how full the cells are.

Dealers too.

As for cleaning under the seats, we have a northern pro who comes down and helps out in the Winter. One day I saw him hosing down the battery compartment.

I told him not to take this the wrong way, but you're not supposed to do that anymore. Boy, did I get a lecture, him being a Club Car dealer and all!!!

Never mind!!!

[chasenfish16]

Do you use the baking soda solution on the tops of the batteries also? aren't you afraid of getting some of the solution in the cap vents?

[cartboy]

Originally Posted by chasenfish16

Do you use the baking soda solution on the tops of the batteries also? aren't you afraid of getting some of the solution in the cap vents?

No. I don't wet clean the batteries any more. At my Florida course we use compressed air and at my Northern course I don't do anything, since we don't have a convenient air compressor.

Funny, though, we have a safety committee at my Florida course and I reviewed the Safety Handbook for the quarterly meeting. One thing it says is to never used compressed air for cleaning anything. No one there had ever noticed that, which is testament to how much the safety handbook gets read.