Lithium Battery Conversion

[Theorangeman]

I recently bought a 2019 Club Car Onward and the batteries need to be replaced. I think I'm going to make the plunge towards replacing them with Lithium. That said, I'm highly confused with many things...

1. I'm not handy at all so I'll need a repair shop to do this. Would you recommend that I purchase the batteries myself or do most shops have them to install for you (without getting gouged)?

2. What lithium batteries should I buy - Allied, RELiON, Trojan, Samsung?

3. Don't I need six since that's how many lead acid batteries I currently have?

4. How much is this likely going to cost me?

[Volt_Ampere]

If you have a shop do it, have them provide the batteries and a warrantee. Plan to pay at least $2500.

[Pat911]

3. No, you need one 48v battery.

[TMZ222]

I also did just the one single 48 V battery you can see it here
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/show...ighlight=build

[Theorangeman]

Originally Posted by TMZ222

I also did just the one single 48 V battery you can see it here
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/show...ighlight=build

Cool... thanks for sharing! I thought I had to buy six to replace the six lead acid ones. I told you I didn't know much.

[Bama Brad]

Are your batteries dead from 2019? Seems like they didn't last very long. Normally last about 5-7 years. Were old batteries put in the cart?

[Theorangeman]

Originally Posted by Bama Brad

Are your batteries dead from 2019? Seems like they didn't last very long. Normally last about 5-7 years. Were old batteries put in the cart?

Yeah, I'm not too happy about that either. I thought I would have a couple of years out of them. They're not dead, but the orange light comes on towards the end of my round. I can hardly play 18 holes on them, and that's playing by myself in 2 1/2 hours (although not sure time has anything to do with it).

About a month ago, I played 36 holes without the light coming on, so not sure why the huge drop off.

[Theorangeman]

This is my first golf cart so I'm hoping I've been maintaining the batteries correctly. I've been adding water to them once a month. That said, I wonder if I was adding enough water each time. Could low water cause this quick of a drop off in performance? Again, just a few weeks ago, I was able to get 36 holes in, now hardly 18.

I just watered the batteries again this morning and they took a whole gallon of water. Does that seem about right or is that indicative of not having enough water in them?

[CP241]

How often do you charge the batteries? Do you have an actual voltage gauge? Not the bar type, one that reads with numbers. You can get one on Amazon for under 10 bucks that will tell a lot more of the story than the dumb bar graphs.

I’d check the water. Make sure it goes about 1/2” above all the plates. Put it on the charger until it shuts off. The disconnect the charger and wait 12 hours, check the voltage at that time of the entire pack. Let’s make sure they’re charging all the way and holding like they should before spending thousands of dollars. Start with the basics…

It should read 50.9 volts or better after sitting 12 hours.

[CP241]

Also, make sure when you use the cart, whether you drive it 5 minutes or 5 hours to plug it in and basically leave it plugged in. The charger will maintain the charge and won’t overcharge it. But keeping them fully charged is critical to a long life.

And this is probably the single biggest benefit to lithium. Charge it when it needs charged, no watering or plugging in every time you use the cart. I charge mine once a week, sometimes 2 weeks depending on how much I use it. So much better than lead batteries for me that was worth the cost alone.