Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

I recently installed new batteries in the golf cart. I have voltages of 7.85 volts on two of the batteries. The other 4 are 8.73. I will pick up a battery hydrometer tomorrow. The charger appears to work fine (power drive 2). The serial number is AQ0245 on the cart. Once the cart has run out of power within a 1/2 mile or so of driving on flat terrain. The lights and radio will go out when you accelerate or go up an incline. I'm not sure if there is a voltage reducer on this model or if it's getting power for the stereo and lights from the batteries that are low. There is a small gauge wire coming off one of the batteries with low voltage that goes into a wire loom I haven't pulled it all out yet to find where it goes. Just wondering if I might have a couple of bad batteries from the store or if something is pulling down these two?

Thank you for any help,
RD

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

well if the cart has a radio i would guess it has a voltage reducer cause if they are 8 volt batteries the radio won,t run off one and will fry if you try to run 16 volts thur it...................you really need to load test the batteries and yes check them all with a hydrometer, keep in mind even a battery with good voltage can fail under load....and yes i would be concerned with the 2 that are reading under 8 volts......but check all 6 batteries and ckeck cables..............clean and tighten all of them........do you know how old batteries are? post the brand and look at the terminals there should be a letter and a # post that....................letter will be month A=january B=february and so on and the # 1 should be 2001 or 2 should be 2002 and so on.........................................8)

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

Thank you for the information. The batteries are US Battery 8VGCHC. On the posts I see E1Y. I bought them in November of 2011. I made new cables with Anchor brand cable and lugs and used the Anchor crimping tool. I just double checked all are clean and tight.

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

What kind of a voltage reading do you get at the charge receptacle?

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

Just went and checked it. 37.5 volts

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

thats no good for a 48 volt cart.......you need to charge the pack complete and let sit for 12 hours or so than check voltage and load test batteries......37.5 don,t be alarmed if charger dosn,t come on as it needs either 36 or 38 volts before charger will come on but right now thats a dead set of batteries.......................................8)

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

Okay went down to hook up the charger. The cart was charged last night. At charge receptacle voltage is 37.5, on battery pack 50.3. Hooked up the charger and within 3 or four minutes the charger is at 5 amps and the battery pack reads 57.1 after about 15 minutes its 57.7 and still at 5 amps. I don't know if this information is useful to you just thought I would throw it in. I will let it charge and check voltages again after 12 hours. I don't have a load tester. Any recommendations on a load tester?

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

Just hook your DVM to the pack and take it for a test run and report the voltage while the cart is moving. Make sure to leave your charger connected until it shuts itself off.

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

yeah get a reading how far it drops as soon as you hit the pedal and than what it recovers to...........................................8)

Re: Low voltage on 2 batteries
 

You seriously may have one or more batteries installed or wired backwards. 8)

See my post #4 & your response #5