36 volt battery usage?

[JULIEANN]

Hi,,,new to the group here.....
recently I bought a older EZ Go Cart from my neighbor, my questions are.....

the cart has a volt gauge hooked to it, after charging 5-6 hours it read 37+
not quite 38 volts...is that good?


at what voltage should I think about recharging it ?? it has Interstate Batteries in it and they look newer......


checking the starting voltage, which is proper ?? should I read that while I'm moving or at rest ?
same in checking when its time to recharge, stopped with key on, or moving???

Thank You

 

[rhgc]

The best thing to do is to keep the batteries charged. When you finish riding, at the end of the day, put the batteries on charge. These batteries dont keep a memory.... keep water in the batteries, and keep them charged. As far as what should the charge voltage read......its a 36 volt cart but after a full charge it should read more than 36...seen them around 40volts. Once you drive the cart the voltage will drop to around 36. To get a good load reading on the batteries check them when under a load, or while driving it.

 

[JULIEANN]

OK...but is there not a level that the batteries should not be discharged past,??,,I read somewhere
where one person said never go lower than 80%, one said 75%?,, one said with new batteries you should keep it under 20% for a while
??????

I have a dash volt gauge, and am not able to recharge every night.....so any hints??

and is that voltage measured standing still, or under way????

 

[JULIEANN]

anybody-anybody Ferris?

 

[DWscott]

GO TO THE TROJAN BATTERY SIGHT FOR FULL INFO ON BATTERYS.
This is one of the best sights I know of for answers about any brand of battery.

 

[HotRodCarts]

It's best not to let them get below 50% which would be 6.05 volts per battery or 36.30 volts for the total pack. You can go to 20% but I wouldn't especially if your not going to charge them after each use. 20% charge would be 5.83 volts or 34.97 total pack voltage. The lower you let them go between charges the shorter their life span. Like rhgc mentioned it's best to charge them after each use or at least at the end of each day you use the cart. Letting the cart sit with batteries that aren't fully charged will also shorten the life of the battery...

 

[JULIEANN]

OK that will help me, see I only use the cart about 10 minutes a day on flat ground, out to the mail box, to the barn back to the house, all less than 500-600 feet ! total
and to get it where I have to charge it, not always available........so I was looking for a rule of thumb so to say..how about those
10 led Battery Monitor Gauge's?

Sorry didn't know questions such as this should be sought out at Battery Web Sites....wont happen no more...new at the forum thingy...thanks again

 

[HotRodCarts]

There's no problem asking battery questions here or any other questions. At least here you'll get honest answers and not answers that try to sway you to buy a certain product...

Like DWscott said the Trojan website does have a lot of good battery information...

If your going to buy a LED gauge I'd get either a genuine EZGO or a Curtis and charge the cart when the guage gets to the middle LED. If you're only using the cart 500 feet a day you should be able to get by with charging one a week, maybe 2 weeks between charges...

 

[gornoman]

Digital LED gauges are great as long as you have referenced each bar to an actual multimeter voltage reading. I can help you out more tonight when I get home and can get to my resources.

 

[JULIEANN]

Thank you, welcome all information, my neighbor said it has resistors ? on it, and he told me I could add 2 6 volt batt's
with out much cost, and that would let me haul a heavyer load, ( feed sacks!)

 

[HotRodCarts]

The resistors will handle 48 volts if they're in good condition. You'll gain speed and torque. One thing to keep in mind with a resistor cart is they don't like going slow for extended runs. The resistors will get cherry red even at 36 volts if you drive at less then full throttle. You'll also need a 48 volt charger or you'll have to charge the two extra batteries separately with a 12 volt charger...

 

[gornoman]

This is a great source of battery info from the most trusted name in the business:

http://www.trojanbattery.com/Tech-Support/...aintenance.aspx

Once you get there, look on the right hand side and you will see a list of topics. Launch each one and become a battery expert in 15 minutes.

Here's another important tidbit: