loosing charge quikly??

[frankowe]

since numerous upgrades to cart, like new h/s motor, h/s gears, 2 ga wiring, 12" tires, 700 amp controller, 400/1000a solenoid, h/d f/r switch and 48v upgrade my battery life has gone down drastically compared to last year, last fall on a full charge i used to go all day without issues, now just after maybe 30-40 min of ride time i'm having running problems i think due to low batt voltage??? after a full charge my volt meter reads 50.4v, 12 hrs. after charging my batteries read:

6.40
6.40
which are the two new ones,
6.30
6.30
6.29
6.29
6.31
6.28
the last battery may have too much water because it leaks and smells bad while charging, the controller and motor get pretty hot after running 10 min, you can still touch then with your hand without burning yourself, but the feel pretty hot to the touch, cant tell how old the last six batteries are but they have to be at least three yrs. old, i'm really hoping this isn't a really big deal because i'm running out of money and ideas to tell my wife, ha ha,

thanks for any input you can give!!!

[scottyb]

The cart is set up to run fast..... and draw lots of amperage doing so. 3 year old batteries could be at the end of their useful life. 30 minutes in your cart may amount to 60 in a normal cart but still a far cry from 90--100 minutes of full run time.

Hope this helps

[frankowe]

is their a better way to check batteries, maybe by loadtesting??? not sure how may amps to draw and for how long, and what battery voltage should remain at least, on a car 12v battery you draw about 300 amps for about 8 seconds and battery should remain about 9v, is their any guidelines like this for 6v cart batts??

[frankowe]

by the way scotty i did get it to go about 30mph on the gps after the 48v upgrade like you said i would need to get their, thanks for all the help.

[frankowe]

i will post video at a later date

[scottyb]

That's great, 30mph is pretty dang fast in a golf cart!

[frankowe]

a load test or maybe testing with a hydrometer would be my next step??

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by frankowe

since numerous upgrades to cart, like new h/s motor, h/s gears, 2 ga wiring, 12" tires, 700 amp controller, 400/1000a solenoid, h/d f/r switch and 48v upgrade my battery life has gone down drastically compared to last year, last fall on a full charge i used to go all day without issues, now just after maybe 30-40 min of ride time i'm having running problems i think due to low batt voltage??? after a full charge my volt meter reads 50.4v, 12 hrs. after charging my batteries read:

6.40
6.40
which are the two new ones,
6.30
6.30
6.29
6.29
6.31
6.28
the last battery may have too much water because it leaks and smells bad while charging, the controller and motor get pretty hot after running 10 min, you can still touch then with your hand without burning yourself, but the feel pretty hot to the touch, cant tell how old the last six batteries are but they have to be at least three yrs. old, i'm really hoping this isn't a really big deal because i'm running out of money and ideas to tell my wife, ha ha,

thanks for any input you can give!!!

By those numbers your batteries are at best as good as that lowest reading. If they are that low after sitting 12 hrs. I would say once you start riding that 6.28 is even dropped a lot lower which in turn is pulling the rest down quickier. 6.37 is 100% charged after 12 hrs.

[scottyb]

If you have a 300amp load tester? These batteries should pull 3-350 amps for 15 sec and hold 5.9-6v

Test fully charged batteries that have sat undisturbed for 12hrs after charging.
Post results here.