Taylor Dunn slowing down...mistakes made

[barngal]

My TD B248 has slowed way down. It goes really slow, and going up an incline It almost stops. Had been running great.

1--could it be because one battery is bad.?


Here's what happened recently :

Discharged the batteries severely...like to 20% before recharging. Batteries are only about 6 mos old.

My Lestronic charger works on a timer, not auto. so I put it on charge x 12 hrs and 14 or so hrs later it was still charging. I don't know if it would have ever turned off by itself. The cells were hot and strong battery acid smell. Water level ok, checked after cooling x 2 hrs. I worry about overcharging, but also I know new batteries can take up to 18 hrs to charge...

The batteries were each charged to 6.6 volts, except for one battery that is bad--it charged to 5-something. I installed them all at the same time, so I need to take this one back. I've had them about 6 months, and the cart gets used very lightly. The battery is still under warranty...

I haven't been putting the cart on the charger every time I use it because I'm trying to discharge the batteries to 80%, and It usually takes days or a week to do this given its light duty....so I have to check the voltage all the time...gauge is unreliable.

Can one bad battery make the cart run slow?
Should I keep discharging to 80% before putting back on charger?

[eudemonist]

One battery dropping out could most definitely cause a drop in power, and most likely is. I'd get it back to the vendor while it's still under warranty.

As far as how often to charge, you'll probably hear differing opinions, but most battery manufacturers recommend not storing batteries in a discharged state. I would say to charge it back up after use, or at least after a second day of light use.

[scottyb]

Bad golf cart advice is as easy to get as bad horse training advice.
It sounds like you got some bad advice and you're not alone ...

Trojan battery company states that the further you discharge a battery the fewer times you can recharge it to 100% of its capacity. For example, You can 80% discharge your batteries and recharge them to 100% 750 times. Or you can 40% discharge your batteries and recharge them to 100% 1500 times. You can 20% discharge and recharge 3000 times.
Golf cart batteries have no memory. There is no need to discharge them to any certain depth. Allowing them to sit for any period of time deeply discharged will cause the plates to sulfate which will permanently diminish their ability to take a charge. All of this information comes from the Trojan battery manufacturing company.

Exchange the one bad battery and get yourself a better charger with auto shut off.
Unless you are a scientist you are not going to properly care for the batteries with a manual charger. The result will be shorter useful battery life. Most of us use the 50% or less mark for recharging. See chart

I hope this helps

[barngal]

Thanks. I think I just misunderstood about running it down to 80%. No memory, so now it makes sense. Putting it back on the charger after every use will be much easier.
As advised, the new battery did the trick. Not only is it running great, but for the first time my "analog" battery meter seems to work perfectly! I'm still checking the cells and calibrating the meter, but it was RIGHT when it constantly read undercharged.

I appreciate all the help here. I'll have to do some research for the automatic battery charger...I know the Lestronics are pretty expensive. A local cart store told me that my charger will stop charging as soon as the batteries are at 100% capacity, and then the timer just runs out. If that were true, I'd just need to turn the charger on every so often while it is sitting, before the batteries discharge.Also, if that were true, it may be that the bad cell kept the charger going. But I have a lot more to learn about that.

With horses, we say no hoof, no horse. (Dont scrimp on foot care, which is expensive).
With carts, its the batteries (also expensive)...

thanks again, I love this forum

[eudemonist]

A local cart store told me that my charger will stop charging as soon as the batteries are at 100% capacity, and then the timer just runs out.


Uhhh....not sure I buy that.

Originally Posted by barngal

I'll have to do some research for the automatic battery charger...

http://www.cartsunlimited.net/48v_Battery_Charger.html

[barngal]

Originally Posted by eudemonist

A local cart store told me that my charger will stop charging as soon as the batteries are at 100% capacity, and then the timer just runs out.


Uhhh....not sure I buy that.

Yeah, I haven't been leaving the charger endlessly unattended. Over cooking my batteries isn't the best way to test a charger...

[barngal]

CTD, the charger is very reasonably priced compared to the lester.
Is there a dual voltage model in case I upgrade from 36 to 48 v later?

no you have to make your choice on what you need ... f you buy the 36v , then up grade you can easily sell the 36v