Golf cart basic questions-plz help :)

[leapingbuddha]

Regen braking does charge the batteries a little. Not when you apply the brake exactly, but when you take your foot off of the go pedal you will feel the cart slow a little, almost like you are applying the brake, I sort of reverses the motor into a generator. I need to know what part of the country you hail from. North Pole, Alaska or So. Cal. to help you more. Yes it sounds like the Trojan T-105 are on there last leg, Check the lug pole on top for a number like 02, 04, 08 etc. to give you a idea what year they were produced. Could be dirty conections, loose cable wires, or just going bad batteries. If you are cycling the batteries down twice daily,chances are new batteries are in your future. Taking the batteries down past 50 percent charge is not a good way to treat them. Trojan T-105 are what everybody seems to agree are the best for your buck. A inexpensive 36-volt digital meter on the cart would be helpful so everyone using the cart would know what 50 percent charge looks like on the meter. [app. 36.3 volts] Some education of the employees might be required or mount a sign in the cart explaining the 50 percent state-of-charge issue. Just this will increase battery life alot. The commercial 187 panel I have heard might be app. $800. App. 11 sq. ft. of solar panel. My cart has 33 sq ft on it. You could get along with smaller but I already had the panels. I drive my cart alot and never have to charge it. Then again I am in Baja, Ca., sun 98 percent of the time. PS I think if it were my cart I would install my own panels and make my own rack and install a charge controller [so the batteries dont overcharge] for same money but better charging than the 187 commercial panel. Did I say all that in one breath?

[bmmacmil]

lol i believe i read it all in one breath. yeah ill check out the batteries. i want to make my own system but my boss says just buy what we need to buy to do it. ill mention that its worthless without good batteries and proper education. i am from Saginaw Michigan so there is sun about .00000000001 % of the year. lol naw but there is some in the summer when we use it.

[leapingbuddha]

Thanks for the quick reply: Look on line Solar golf cart roofs. There are a lot of goodlooking roofs out there. Go with a big one. Expensive, but with federal, state, and local rebates your company cart might be solar assisted. It will give you extended range and will treat your batteries better. File form MP3-70063-A for more solar radiation in your area. Later

[pggroves]

Perspective:

A good set of 6v batteries will easily make 36 holes of golf. That's an equivalent of around 10-12 miles of stop/go driving.

I'd say your batteries are probably at end of life. Check on the negative post of the Trojan's for a letter and number stamped on the top. Letter = month and Number = year of manufacture. Check the specific gravity of the cells as well as individual and pack voltage a few hours after a complete charge cycle. Poor conducting cables/connections will also add to a problem.

[ezgokid]

I would upgrade to Trojan T-125. T-105 is good but, pretty old. Once you do this, I would suggest running the cart all day, (do what you need to do), then charge it over night I would say 8-12 hours. The batteries don't like it when you use them, recharge use them and so on.

[scottyb]

Save your money on the solar ...... what you describe is bad batteries. Load test them or SG test them to confirm. Tell them to reduce the load and create a proper use/ maintenance program. Running the batteries down like that will kill them, that alone will finish them off....