Need some battery advice

[SaltLifeCC]

Doesn't look like a lot of activity in the Par Car forum, and this is probably not a make specific question anyway, so I'm hoping you guys can help. I think I know what the answer is going to be but here goes anyway.

My parents just bought a home in a golf cart community and it came with an 04 Columbia Par Car, electric. It has 8 6 volt T-105 Trojan batteries in it that are stamped with D7 on the battery posts. It has one bad battery for sure and a second that might be going. The cart has a nice setup for this community, with full curtains, lights, turn signals, etc. and it rides fairly nice and isn't making any odd noises or showing signs of other problems. There are some places close by to possibly pickup a used battery or two that may be comparable in age but in good condition. If that might buy a year or so, they may prefer to do that vs. investing in an entirely new set of batts now.

Thoughts?

[LostHusker]

You could try that, though I would not recommend it. If you are already having problems then it is just a matter of time before they all go bad. D7, there born date is April 07 so there are 4 years old. I am not familiar with Par Car, but you may be able to just buy 6 - 8v batteries instead, may save some cash. If you do buy a couple of used ones it may get you buy, but no guarantees, the charger only charges across the pack as a whole.

[ajbrown]

I did this recently in a cart I purchased used. The cart has 6-8 volt batteries. The pack is 3+ years old. After owning for a few weeks one of the batteries died. It had a shorted cell, so shorted that when measuring cell with a hydrometer it looked like I was sucking up distilled water . I did not wish to buy a new pack as I will be leaving the area for an extended time, so I found a local guy that sold me a battery for $50 if I brought him the dead one.

I think alot of it has to do with the condition of the other batteries (keep in mind I am just a DIY guy). In my case it has been two months and the pack is performing very well. I will monitor the pack and replace when I can no longer drive 25 miles without discharging the pack past 48.4 volts (my personal minimum range).

As far as replacing pack of T105's with 6-8 volters. It will save you some money, but will cost a significant bit of range per charge, upwards of 30% if I recall.

[SaltLifeCC]

Thanks for the input guys. Obviously the fool proof thing to do is replace the entire pack. But we are thinking they can get a used battery or 2 for about $50 each. If it doesn't work out over a short period of time, they'll be out that much for trying it.

I forgot to mention that, before I arrived for my visit, they had a guy come over and check the pack out with a volt meter and hydrometer. So, we know 1 battery is shot and another one is iffy. But, as of right now, the other 6 test out just fine. So, not completely throwing darts at the problem, but still a little risky I realize.

This place is huge and they ride their carts quite a distance at times. So, I'm sure they wouldn't want to give up range to save a couple of bucks.

The intention is to try to keep the electric cart going, for now, as cheaply as possible, and then purchase a gas cart as well. I sort of talked them into doing that vs. trading in the electric, as-is, on a single gas cart.

[ajbrown]

Is the community The Villages, FL? If it is I may be the person who recommended the mechanic on another site called talkofthevillages.com.

They asked about batteries overheating during charge and did not sound like they wanted to fix. Maybe different story, but many coincidences in story so I am curious.....

The only thing that sounds off is the part about a hydrometer. I am not sure the mechanic I recommended even owns one

[SaltLifeCC]

Small world AJ. Not sure which mechanic they called but my father definitely mentioned the use of a hydrometer by whoever came by here to check things out.

Yes, that was the initial sign that something was wrong. The charger kept running and the batts and the charger got very hot. I think, not knowing much about carts, that initially scared them away from keeping it. But now that they realize this is a fairly normal thing for carts that have batts that won't take a complete charge, I think they would like to fix and keep the cart.