When to charge batteries?

[Mera]

New to this forum. I down loaded the manual for my 2005 PDS Ez Go cart and read thru it. I did several searches on this forum. I still can not find any advice on when to charge the batteries. I have the battery readout on my dash. I have found where it says to charge it after every use. So I drive it a few hundred feet to get the paper. I should charge it after that? What is the best time to charge? Can the read out on the dash be used to determine when to recharge?

Thanks
Rodney

[scottyb]

Most agree to recharge after 15 minutes of actual peddle time, recharge....Now that is actual holding the peddle down... If betting the p[aper is 30 seconds each way it will take 2 weeks to accrue 15 minutes of peddle time. Realize time spent sitting discharges batteries too. If that is all the use you get, I would recharge once a week or 10 days? A more accurate test is the voltmeter. A fully charged 36v pack will read 38.20v and a 50% discharged pack will read 36.31v. This is where it should be recharged

[Mera]

Anyone add a digital voltage meter to their cart?

Rodney

[hitmanharleyk]

Every night no matter how much it was used that day ?

Seems to work for me

[dock98]

i have been told to charge my electric when the gauge shows 50%

[SteveMiller]

50% is way too late. Everyday that you use it and at least once a month if unused.

[rusty]

Steve is correct.

If you have more than 15 minutes of "pedal time", charge the batteries.

If you only have "mail box time" no need to charge till you use a little run time from the batteries.

Pedal time = accelerator pressed down

[rusty]

Welcome to the forum SteveMiller...........

[dereckbc]

Very simple answer after every use, and better yet use a 3-stage charger, that stays on the batteries 24 x 7 365.

To maximize battery life you should try not to dischage you batteries more than 20% between recharges, and never more than 50%.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Most agree to recharge after 15 minutes of actual peddle time, recharge....Now that is actual holding the peddle down... If getting the paper is 30 seconds each way it will take 2 weeks to accrue 15 minutes of peddle time. Realize time spent sitting discharges batteries too. If that is all the use you get, I would recharge once a week or 10 days? A more accurate test is the voltmeter. A fully charged 36v pack will read 38.20v and a 50% discharged pack will read 36.31v. This is where it should be recharged

The information above was taken from the Trojan Battery Co. website...It is good to have a gauge but you need to use a voltmeter to ascertain exactly what full charge is and when on your dial or digital gauge it is time to recharge ..... Very important as the gauge is not going to be very accurate.
If you have a 48v pack when fully charged is 50.93v and 50% discharged is at 48.41v ...... The reason I give the 50% discharge voltage is because the battery pack should NOT be drawn down below this point for optimum performance and life expectancy.....I hope this helps