Golf Cart Charger

Well... My apologies... never did follow up...

Repaired the charger by replacing the diodes and building a custom heat sink (made the heat sink from a piece of 1.5 x 1.5 .125 wall AL sq tubing 5" long... a suggestion from the guy at DigiKey when I ordered the diodes).

Charger works fine now... however the batteries went south.
We decided to replace the 6x8V batteries, with 4x12V batteries... LOTS less $$$.

Golf cart works fine now... the guys at the hanger appreciate having it...
And I appreciate the help you guys offered to get it running again!

Now for a brake job this fall... the brakes seem to 'snatch'... like work out shoes.
 
Re-visiting this thread...

Seems the batteries in the golf cart have gone south again...
At this point it does appear the charger still works.
Honestly, I have not been to the airport much this summer... my gyro needs some major work, and it is has been a banner year for AC repair and replacement.

Anyhow...
We 'economized' and used 4 x 12V automotive batteries last year... it seemed to work... for a while anyway.
Now a couple of them are low voltage and the charger will not stay engaged.
When the charger is plugged into the battery array... the internal relay clicks, the amp meter on the charger comes up to 15-16 Amps... then after a few seconds the amp meter goes to zero. Disconnect the charger and wait a few seconds... same thing.
Am thinking, since the total of independent 'at rest' battery voltage is below 40 volts... we need to replace the batteries again... or at least the low voltage ones (2)... they were used auto batteries when they were put in last summer.

Anyone have any thoughts on using automotive batteries on a golf cart?
The load is probably something like 1/2 of a 9 hole round of golf, over a 5-6 hour day... then on the charger until next weekend.
During the summer, maybe this same usage 2x per week (few days between).

Any thoughts, ideas, inspirations, shop wisdom, etc... is appreciated!

GA
 
Maybe deep cycle batteries would be better. It is possible that the batteries are being ''cooked'' by over charging. Maybe put a timer on the charger.
 
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There is a difference between automotive SLI batteries and deep discharge lead acid batteries.

Automotive batteries are designed for quick high current delivery for starting and have many thin plates. Deep discharge batteries have thicker positive plates and and are less susceptible to grid corrosion due to continuous charge and are designed for deep discharge like stationary or traction vehicle applications.

David
 
TOOLMASTER said:
do you rotate your batteries?
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on what you mean? If he has six batteries, it wouldn't matter how they are wired in series. Battery "A" doesn't care if it's the 3rd battery, 1st or last. 6 batteries in series is still six batteries in series. Now if he needs 6 batteries and he has 8 in the shop, do you mean he needs to pull two out of use and install the spare two? Kinda like you rotate a full size spare tire?
 
There is a huge difference in golf cart batters and automotive battery's. Get 8v golf cart battery's and save in the long run.
 
THX for all the input...

The idea of asking the question... was to keep costs down...
Around here... a deep cycle battery is min $100+ each...
We got a year out of 4 automotive batteries... total cost $140...
Go figure... :)

Looking for subtle ideas to keep from spending the big bucks for a set of deep cycle batteries.
If we do end up going that route... 4 x 12V for a cost in the $400-450 range makes more sense than
6 x 8V with a cost in the $600-700 range.

Golf cart gets about the equivalent of less than one round of 9 holes, once a week.
During the summer... maybe 2x/week.

The timer on the charger, or a better charger, seems a good idea.

Any and all ideas welcome!

THX

GA
 
GA I think first you should determine the amount of run time you need for your cart. Popular 6v golf cart batteries have about 200 ahrs @ 25 amps and weigh around 70 lb. this is just one example.
A reasonable deep discharge group 27 12v marine battery has about 63 ahrs @ 25 amps.
If you don't require the run time of the higher amp hour batteries then 4 marine batteries should work.
In my motor home I use 2 series 12 golf cart batteries for the house battery.
If you need capacity in the 200 ahr range then 6 or 8v packages are more manageable to carry and handle, however the down side is lots more interconnecting cables.

I believe Stanley makes a reasonably priced smart golf cart charger if yours isn't working correctly. I have not tried it, but was reviewing for my son's cart.

David
 
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