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Old 03-14-2013, 09:38 AM   #1
KY Gun Geek
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Default Is my cart a (battery) killer?

I have 2 carts, lets call them green and white. Both 36v txt's 1996/1998 vintage. Usage is just about daily on a farm to haul people, feed and hay for maybe 30mins spread over 3hrs on week days, maybe 2hrs spread over the whole day on satruday/sunday. Reasonably flat, gravel and asphalt roads.

Green was working fine electrically, white has long standing battery issues (knew it when i bought it, havent coughed the cash). White finally got to the point where it was useless, so it was parked. Green then developed a couple of mechanical issues, so I swapped the batteries out of Green into White.

The batteries now seem to be failing in white. They charge fine (like 39v on one of scotty's meters), but driving on a slight rise I see voltages of like 34v, and, of course cart is slow. I'm diligent about watching the water levels, and cart gets charged at the end of every day. While these batteries were in green they were adequate, and started out that way in white. Performance has deteriorated in the course of 2 or 3 weeks.

Wife's immediate diagnosis is that white is a battery killer. Does this make sense? Any tests I can run? Working to get green moving and will swap batteries back, but if white really is a killer, I don't want to put new bats in...

TIA
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Old 03-14-2013, 11:09 AM   #2
subby44
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Default Re: Is my cart a (battery) killer?

I do not think White is a killer.. I think you might need better cables. Is whites cables old or newer? change them to a 4 gauge cable. or better yet maybe even change the cables from green to white with the batts... that could tell you if you have a connection problem... The voltage from green before you changed the batts to white seems to be low to start with. I think you could have had failing batts to begin with... Again, I do not think that white is a battery killer.. Prob. time to cough up the cash for 12 6v batts.. OUCH... btw... do not cheap out on the batts or you might be back in this same position sooner than later... just my opinion...
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Old 03-14-2013, 11:52 AM   #3
klawtrax
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Default Re: Is my cart a (battery) killer?

We had the same problem. The cart would work great for about 2 hours then start to slow down to nothing. I bought a 2010 cart in 2012. The cart was new so batteries where 2 years old and was never cycled the way they should be so we had to swap or trade up to a little better battery and the problem is no more. I said "trade up" because that is the deal we had to work with the dealer we purchased the cart from, he would not replace the original batteries, he said that they tested good, surprisingly when we replaced them with new and better ones the cart can now go 8 hours and still be 3/4 full charge.
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Old 03-14-2013, 12:50 PM   #4
JohnnieB
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Default Re: Is my cart a (battery) killer?

If "White" has one of Scotty's DVM battery meters in it, Attach a handheld DVM to the main + & - on the battery pack (where the leads to the Dash mounted DVM are attached) and verify both meters read the same, or note any differences for later reference.

Then securely and safely attach the handheld DVM Negative test lead to the B- terminal on the controller and the Positive test lead to the M- terminal.

When the cart bogs down on the hill, both meters should have nearly identical voltage readings.
If not, there is excessive resistance in the high current cables, contacts and/or connections.

Also, feel the cables and components after climb the hill.
If any of the cables are the least bit warm, they need to be replaced.
(If they are the original 6Ga cables, they will all be warm. 6Ga is just too small)
The controller and motor will be warm (not hot), but the solenoid and F/R switch should be.

Another thing to check is if cart rolls freely.
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Old 03-14-2013, 03:04 PM   #5
KY Gun Geek
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Default Re: Is my cart a (battery) killer?

Thanks for the ideas

Cables:
They are the same in both carts, meaning they are factory 6ga for the longer stuff around the F/R and controller, but I did upgrade both carts a while ago to 4ga in the battery bank (set you can get from most cart parts places on the net).

Meter
When I installed the meter (there is only one in white, none in green) I did a check to see if it agreed with my DVM and it did with-in about 1/4volt (DVM was 2 decimals, cart is 1). Easy enough to recheck, as well as picking voltage off the M- terminal during hill (more like slight rise) climb.

Rolling resistance
has been checked before (i adjusted the brakes), will check again.

Will also do a feel test.
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Old 03-15-2013, 08:31 PM   #6
Great white north
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Default Re: Is my cart a (battery) killer?

Listen to Johnny -B and Subby the batts need to be charged correctly and not dis-charged to below 50% level , for the way you are using the cart you need to up -grade the batts , how old are the batts , that you are using now ? , I know you have putting off paying some money, but I think it has caught up with you ! Regular maintenance is important with electric carts
You may have to cough up money for new Batts
Good luck
Cheers !
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