Recommendations for 48v Battery Tender

[ClubCar2002]

I actually did a search for recommendations for reliable brands of 48 v tenders and came up empty of specific answers to the question.

I have brand new LAs in a 2002 Club Car DS 48v system.

Come May I will be leaving the cart in my hot Florida garage, for 5 months until mid-October. I can get a friend to come in and drive it around now and then, and put the charger on it "now and then" but I don't want to inconvenience him more than I have to.

Any recommendations on how I should leave my batteries when I depart? I have been told a few different things, some contradictory.

I was going to fully charge, THEN top up the water, then attach a tender. I was told it I should pop the covers off the water fill holes, and set them on the holes but not snapped on. This makes me nervous. Especially if a friend is going to drive it, he may forget to snap them back on.

IF a tender is a good idea, what's a reliable one? Looking at the ones on Amazon, they all seem to have a few bad reviews of them crapping out and not functioning while being left alone for long periods of time, which is when you need them to NOT crap out.

[CP241]

Batteries… 5 months… Florida…

I think id just give them all a good charge and then pull ‘em out and store them inside where there’s climate control. That heat, charging, etc isn’t gonna do them any favors. Your friend is not only gonna have to keep an eye on the charger but add water to them as well.

I think they’d do just fine being stored inside without a charger for the summer months. Probably better off than in a hot garage. I don’t like to leave my carts on charge unattended anyway.

[Volt_Ampere]

The one called Battery Tender is what I would look at. I use the 12V ones on my cars when I leave them. They make a 48V one for carts.

[ClubCar2002]

Originally Posted by CP241

Batteries… 5 months… Florida…

I think id just give them all a good charge and then pull ‘em out and store them inside where there’s climate control. That heat, charging, etc isn’t gonna do them any favors. Your friend is not only gonna have to keep an eye on the charger but add water to them as well.

I think they’d do just fine being stored inside without a charger for the summer months. Probably better off than in a hot garage. I don’t like to leave my carts on charge unattended anyway.

I appreciate your answer. Unfortunately that's not going to happen for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 being that I'm old, have a bad back, and a hernia, and would likely hurt myself lugging those MFs around, and #2, if we had an accident INSIDE the climate controlled area, my wife would make my other injures seem insignificant.
I'm sure your approach would be better for the batteries. Probably not better for me.
So, given that I'm going to leave them in the garage, what's the next best thing?

[CP241]

Originally Posted by ClubCar2002

I appreciate your answer. Unfortunately that's not going to happen for a couple of reasons. Reason #1 being that I'm old, have a bad back, and a hernia, and would likely hurt myself lugging those MFs around, and #2, if we had an accident INSIDE the climate controlled area, my wife would make my other injures seem insignificant.
I'm sure your approach would be better for the batteries. Probably not better for me.
So, given that I'm going to leave them in the garage, what's the next best thing?

understood completely

In my opinion, if you still have the OEM charger and OBC that would probably be the best bet. They will watch the charge and kick on every few weeks to float and maintain them automatically.

[RallyPac]

I have used from Amazon - Granite Digital Battery Saver 2365-48 - about $110. Worked fine and can be attached to the seat bottom and just connect positive and negative for a "permanent" trickle charger. Your friend will only unplug the power at the wall or on the charger whichever way you choose.
I never leave my caps loose unless I'm trying to quick charge a battery.

[meimk]

I would agree with CP241. The OBC / Power Drive charger combination was designed just for this scenario. Left plugged into landline power and the cart it will turn itself on every few weeks to charge the pack according to how much it's lost, then turn itself back off. In addition to keeping the voltage up, it can also de-sulfate your batteries - which is something a trickle / maintainer can't do. The water levels will probably need to be topped up at some point during the summer. I don't see any advantage to leaving the caps loose since they already have vents built into them.

[Rooster1]

Get the Lester Summit II charger. I installed one in my club car and it is the best.

https://www.golfcartgarage.com/24-36...BoCC6QQAvD_BwE