{"id":295,"date":"2018-08-08T11:41:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T15:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfcartgo.com\/?p=295"},"modified":"2022-09-09T23:44:18","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T03:44:18","slug":"ultimate-guide-golf-cart-battery-troubleshooting-and-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfcartgo.com\/ultimate-guide-golf-cart-battery-troubleshooting-and-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Guide: Golf Cart Battery Troubleshooting and Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Batteries are obviously pretty important on your golf cart. Whether you have a gas or electric, Yamaha, E-Z-GO, or Club Car golf cart, it won\u2019t be very useful if the battery fails. Obviously, for electric golf carts, the battery is what provides power to your motor. If your batteries start to quit on you, the golf cart won\u2019t move, or will drastically decrease in range. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a gas motor, the battery is what starts the motor and keeps it running by providing electricity to the spark plugs. Without it, your motor won\u2019t crank.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Such a vital part as a battery demands that you keep an eye on it, maintain it, and know how to fix things when they go bad. This handy dandy guide to battery maintenance and troubleshooting is designed to help you keep your golf cart batteries in good health to extend their lifespan, and save you some money on batteries and mechanics. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First let\u2019s talk about what kind of battery is best for you<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two basic types of batteries, lead-acid and lithium-ion. With lithium-ion batteries, there aren\u2019t a whole lot of different categories, but lead-acid has two different main types: wet cell and VRLA. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wet cell, or flooded batteries have a liquid solution that the battery metals sit in, and VRLA or valve regulated lead-acid batteries have an absorbed solution, or gelled solution.

Lithium-ion batteries have a lot of advantages, they\u2019re lighter, charge faster, partial charges aren\u2019t harmful to them, and they have a longer lifespan. However, they are really expensive to install, as your golf cart charger will most likely have to be replaced with one compatible to lithium-ion, and you may even have to make modifications to your cart for it to be able to run on lithium-ion batteries.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead-acid has a lot of advantages<\/a> as well. They\u2019re much cheaper, and are what your golf cart was most likely designed to use. This means less stress, hassle, and less upfront cost. As far as VRLA vs wet cell, there is a bit of give and take. Wet cell requires maintenance to reach its full lifespan, but is somewhat better at storage and can last longer than most VRLAs if taken proper care of. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VRLA batteries have no free liquids, so they are better for rough terrains, extreme temperatures, and don\u2019t require maintenance, but are very sensitive to overcharging and a bit more expensive. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of these batteries are inherently better than the rest in every way, so think about your needs and choose the battery that best fits your particular application. We’ve used the Trojan T-105 batteries<\/a> for any deep cycle battery needs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We used them for our RV cabin and love them for our golf carts.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining your golf cart battery<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, before we talk about figuring out what\u2019s wrong with your golf cart battery<\/a>, let\u2019s talk about how to keep things from going wrong for as long as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will hopefully save you some headache and money down the road by extending your golf cart batteries life to its fullest. Which brings us to the first part. You need a reasonable expectation of how long this battery will last you.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How long will a battery last?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most batteries will last about as long as their warranty, haha. All joking aside, every battery is different, but most properly maintained batteries will last about 4 to 6 years depending on usage, charge cycle, and a bunch of uncontrollable variables. Lead acid batteries will require a lot of maintenance to do so, however. <\/span>
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No matter what type of battery you choose though, there are a couple things you need to do for every battery. We\u2019ll start with those.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The never ending war on corrosion.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most common thing that leads to early golf cart battery failure is corrosion. The problem goes deeper, too. It will ruin your cables, terminals, and even cause damage to battery trays and tie downs. Replacing a whole battery cable can be costly and difficult, so it\u2019s best to avoid that problem. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look for corrosion often, and neutralize it immediately. It\u2019s a long and never ending war, but your wallet will thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corrosion happens when hydrogen gases, released from your battery, mix with other chemicals and gasses in the atmosphere, and then bond to the metals of cables, terminals, and battery posts. The corrosion looks like fuzzy blue\/green stuff, similar to a mold colony that had a crazy lit party on your battery. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corrosion is typically found on your cable terminals and battery posts, and as soon as you spot it, take steps to neutralize it as soon as possible. This is done in two steps.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n