I have an EZGO electric golf cart that we use at our cottage only during the summer months and have questions about charging the batteries. I am female and have asked several guys their opinion and no one seems to know, so I wanted to come to a reliable source.
The cart will often sit unused for a few weeks at a time. During the winter months, it is in storage inside and it is charged once a month to keep the batteries charged. This year, I am finding that when I connect the charger, the gauge will register on high on the charger initially, but then it drops down to low (the charger will stay on and not turn off automatically at this point). The majority of the time the batteries are charging, the charger will be in the lower position. The guy I bought it from last year told me the batteries were a year old (I trust him). He told me to leave it plugged in overnight if I use the cart during the day. I have since read that if you use your cart more than 1/2 hour, you should charge it until the charger turns off. Also, this past winter, the charge was drained completely from the batteries so the charger wouldn't recognize a minimum charge so we charged each battery individually until they reached the point where the charger would register and initiate a charge.
Now the batteries don't seem to hold a charge as long as they used to. Do the batteries have a memory like the old batteries used to where you have only half life on them if they are charged at the wrong time? Can you actaully overcharge batteries? Also, If were to use an extension cord on the charger would that effect the overall charge? I haven't done this yet, but would like to so my Mom can simply plug in the extension cord outside rather than hauling the charger to the outlet.
I don't have my charger model or my cart model because I am away from the cottage now, but wanted to ask this question in general terms to start. It is driving me nuts!
Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.
The cart will often sit unused for a few weeks at a time. During the winter months, it is in storage inside and it is charged once a month to keep the batteries charged. This year, I am finding that when I connect the charger, the gauge will register on high on the charger initially, but then it drops down to low (the charger will stay on and not turn off automatically at this point). The majority of the time the batteries are charging, the charger will be in the lower position. The guy I bought it from last year told me the batteries were a year old (I trust him). He told me to leave it plugged in overnight if I use the cart during the day. I have since read that if you use your cart more than 1/2 hour, you should charge it until the charger turns off. Also, this past winter, the charge was drained completely from the batteries so the charger wouldn't recognize a minimum charge so we charged each battery individually until they reached the point where the charger would register and initiate a charge.
Now the batteries don't seem to hold a charge as long as they used to. Do the batteries have a memory like the old batteries used to where you have only half life on them if they are charged at the wrong time? Can you actaully overcharge batteries? Also, If were to use an extension cord on the charger would that effect the overall charge? I haven't done this yet, but would like to so my Mom can simply plug in the extension cord outside rather than hauling the charger to the outlet.
I don't have my charger model or my cart model because I am away from the cottage now, but wanted to ask this question in general terms to start. It is driving me nuts!
Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.
