View Single Post
Old 04-19-2010, 04:35 PM   #10
Pipsta
Getting Wild
 
Pipsta's Avatar
Club Car
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 142
Default Re: To charge or not to charge.... wtf is the question?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BLACK DEATH View Post
What I wanted to do to my cart was have a volt gauge hooked up in the dash to monitor voltage on my cart. An after market one you can buy at an auto parts store for a vehicle. Analog will give you a general idea but a digital will give you exact amount. If worse comes to worse can you carry an extra battery just incase or run them in parallel for more reserve?
That's a great idea. In fact I've been thinking with the amount of constant run time I demand that an instrument cluster for tach, volt and temp is something I could use.

I've been using a little $10 cigarette lighter/12volt plug voltmeter thing in my truck to monitor the battery when shut off and alt when running cause I was having an issue with that a couple months ago. Just plugs into the lighter plug or a 12 volt outlet and is digital. I have been using it to get a quick read on my cart as well the past week, too. I have the 12 volt plug in outlet with smallish hot/ground leads for me to connect to various spots. Works good in a pinch without messing with the voltmeter.

If I mount a 12 volt jack under the dash I could plug that in and get an instant reading on the generator system and battery level. It won't tell me what's going bad but it gives me a status without wiring a gauge. You can get one for under $10 at harbor freight tools or one for $15 at walmart.

My first upgrade is going to be a stereo and I will be adding a deep cycle battery in the storage to power it. Until I figure out the charging issue I won't tie it into the charging, I'll just mount it in there and pull it out to charge at home.
Pipsta is offline   Reply With Quote