Andy, you were very lucky. 36 volts is not a normal power supply rating.
After a few days of testing, attached is the schematic of what I did.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg52/ja.../36vfloat-1.jpg
I used two bell transformers wired the secondaries in series so that their output is 42 vac. I get the feeling that these transformers are not tightly controlled in production or from vendor to vendor because the one in my house for the door bell measures 18v but is stamped 16v at the output screws.
Not knowing exactly how to calculate what value dropping resistor would be needed, I did the whole design empirically over a period of a few days. After the pack came off the charger at 44v, the float charger was connected and adjusted for 100ma to the battery pack as a starting point. After 6 hours, the pack was at 39.8v and there was a bubble or two noticed in a battery cell. In my particluar instance I reduced the float current to 60ma and checked again over night. Battery voltage was 39.3 and no bubbles. My final resistor ended up at 100 ohms even. At 60ma, the transformers were just warm to the touch as was the 100 ohm 1 watt resistor. Removed the float charger for 5 hours and the battery pack has dropped to 38.5v. Connected the float charger again and after 6 hours, the pack was back at 39.3v again.
What does anyone think? Any ideas if this is a good idea? Trojan mentions a float voltage, but nowhere is there a stand alone float charger that I could find for a 36v pack.
Jay