Battery problem?
 

I have a 48v club car ds. The batteries are about 5 1/2 years old. When fully charged they each show around 9.2 or 9.3 volts. Bank shows around 56.4 volts. This morning after about 25 minutes of continued driving my state of charge meter had dropped 3 bars and it is really slow going uphill, I mean creeping. I checked the voltage on each battery after my ride and each one showed 8.3 or 8.4 volts and bank showed 50.1. So I assume my SOC meter is not working properly. My question is, why is it creeping uphill if it still has 50volt charge? Do I have a problem other job than the batteries?

Re: Battery problem?
 

What is the voltage AS you’re going uphill? That will determine the health of your batteries.


Club Car DS driver’s club #59

Re: Battery problem?
 

Those measurements are not useful to determine battery health. Voltage of the entire pack needs to be measured AFTER the cart has been sitting off-charger for at least 10 hours. Then report the overall voltage measured. That will determine their "relative" health and capacity.

To determine if one battery is failing when the amps are demanded going up hills - connect your DVM to each battery (one-at-a-time) and drive up a steep hill. Repeat this for each battery. Very likely, at least one of them will drop its voltage a bunch - and is the cause of hill-creeping. Of course, at 5 1/2 years you should not replace just one battery - the whole pack will need to be replaced.

What you describe sounds a lot like aging/failing batteries.

Re: Battery problem?
 

Thanks guys. Looks like I have some more checking to do. I’ll check it going up hill and see what numbers I get. I, too, suspect the problem is aging batteries but the cart is not used that much. We bought it to use when we go camping which is usually just 3 times a year. We do occasionally just drive it around the neighborhood so it hasn’t really been used a lot the past few years.

Re: Battery problem?
 

Did the battery d mind check. Going up a pretty steep hill here is what I got:
Voltage at start. At peak demand
8.5. 7.0
8.5. 7.3
8.6. 7.2
8.5. 6.7
8.4. 5.6
8.4. 6.6

I guess I probably need new batteries.

Re: Battery problem?
 

You’re ready for a new pack [emoji53]


Club Car DS driver’s club #59

Re: Battery problem?
 

As I'm sure you can tell, one of those batteries (5.6) has totally lost it's mojo; and there are two others in the sixes that are close on it's heels. You've diagnosed the problem.