Club Cart New Batteries Draining Quickly

[teecro]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFast

I get it that Trojan are the top of the line batteries. But Bruteforce 6v are also advertised as golf cart batteries on their website, so I would imagine they would do the job.

Regardless if you don't see 48.6 to 49 volts during the charging process they are not fully charged... During the charging process the volts should climb and the amps should fall, but to repeat if your not letting it get to 48 to 49 volts the batteries are not getting fully charged...

[JohnnyFast]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

I take this to mean you are saying they are deep cycle, but not golf cart batteries.

https://www.royalbattery.com/gba6v2000

[Mooncarter]

If your charger is running 24 hours without shutting off and only getting to 38.4 volts your charger is bad or something is not connected correctly.

Show us a photo of your battery compartment.

[JohnnyFast]

Originally Posted by mrgolf

They will never give you the run time that golf cart batteries will. They are not build for the loads a golf cart will draw.

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

If your charger is running 24 hours without shutting off and only getting to 38.4 volts your charger is bad or something is not connected correctly.

Show us a photo of your battery compartment.

Here's a pic of my set up

[Mooncarter]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFast

Here's a pic of my set up

From what I can see it looks right. Post individual battery voltages.

If it is running 24 hours I think the charger is bad.

[JohnnyFast]

Originally Posted by Mooncarter

From what I can see it looks right. Post individual battery voltages.

If it is running 24 hours I think the charger is bad.

Yeah I think so too. Going to have to invest in a new battery charger and hopefully it'll charger faster and give us a full charge! Thank you for your help and time.

[ThreeCW]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFast

Interesting! The old batteries were Trojan but the new batteries I purchased are Bruteforce 6V. Do you think it's the same 48.6 voltage?
How do I find the actual voltage of my batteries once they've been charged?

And do you think the charger running for over 24 hours is normal? Most posts I see from other users say the max is 16 hours and it should shut off on its own. I just don't want to overcharge them or anything

1) Bruteforce 6V. Do you think it's the same 48.6 voltage?
The FINISH CHARGE for your Bruteforce 36 volt battery pack should be similar to the Trojans at 48.6 volts. You may want to check the manufacturers website to determine an exact finish voltage, but often the economy batteries have limited published technical information and support.

2) How do I find the actual voltage of my batteries once they've been charged?
While charging, monitor the voltage across the 36 volt battery pack using your multimeter. While charging, the voltage should follow the general trend of the example Trojan charging profile on page 19 of the document I posted for you earlier. After the charge cycle has ended, disconnect the charger from your cart and after a resting period of 12 to 24 hours (with no cart use), measure the static voltage of your battery pack. Use the Carts Unlimited State of Charge Chart to determine your current state of charge. If you are fully charged, you should be seeing 38.2 volts or higher.

3) And do you think the charger running for over 24 hours is normal?
The length of a charge cycle is a function of how depleted the batteries are. If my battery pack is 10% depleted, my charger will recharge my battery pack in about 2 - 3 hours. If it is 50% depleted, it may take 16 hours. For optimum battery life, you should not deplete your pack to more than 50%, but I can assume that if a person ran their battery pack to 80% depletion, it certainly MIGHT take 24 hours (or more) to recharge the pack. Note that if you are not seeing over 48.6 volts on the battery pack, you will NOT be over charging them even at 24 hours or more.

I suggest you do some testing before deciding to replace your charger:

Test 1 - Before charging, take the static voltage (a minimum of 12 hours after last charge) of each individual battery and of the entire battery pack. Record voltages to 2 decimal places if possible. All batteries should be about the same voltage (within 0.10 volts or less difference). If anything looks out of line, get back to us at BGW and we can help your troubleshoot further before the next step.

Test 2 - Charge your battery pack and record time and battery pack voltage at regular intervals. If your pack was fully charged when starting this charging test (38.2 volts or higher), this charge cycle should be over in under an hour ... so adjust your recording intervals accordingly (say every 10 minutes). If you started with a fairly depleted battery pack, a longer charge period would be expected. Perhaps start with 10 minute readings for 30 minutes then every hour. Record time and pack voltage. If your battery charger has an amp gauge, also record the amperage. A few times during this charging test, also record each individual battery voltage during charging ... this will help to identify if you have a bad battery in the pack (yes ... that happens occasionally even with new batteries). Post the results of this testing and we can help you with your trouble shooting.

[Sergio]

In Your first post You mentioned:

The charger I'm using is a Lestronic II

Those old Ferro Ressonant chargers have a large capacitor connected to a separate winding in the transformer that is used to that regulate the output voltage and current saturation.

When they go bad, both the charging voltage and current output are reduced, which appears to be your problem.

If You post the exact charger model number we can verify if that is the type of charger You have and help you get the proper capacitor value to order.

[_ogre]

i see a couple of 12v circuits on the top 2 and bottom 2 batteries
but i also see a heavy red wire on the 3rd battery from the top
would that be his charger wire?
i know nothing about these carts, just an observation

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by _ogre

i see a couple of 12v circuits on the top 2 and bottom 2 batteries
but i also see a heavy red wire on the 3rd battery from the top
would that be his charger wire?
i know nothing about these carts, just an observation

That is the reverse speed voltage tap to the FNR.

Even if your batteries are totally charged, the charger should still go to MAX amps when first connected, his is not so most likely the charger tuning capacitor is bad.