Figuring out how to tell which golf cart battery is bad usually starts when your cart begins acting like it's dragging a vessel anchor or battling to allow it to be up hills that utilized to become a wind. It's an annoying spot to be in, especially mainly because golf cart electric batteries are hooked upward inside a series, meaning one "bad apple" can tank the performance of the particular entire pack. You don't necessarily require to be a mechanic to find the reason, but you perform need to know what to look with regard to before you begin shelling away hundreds of dollars for a brand-new set.
Start with a simple visible inspection
Before you go getting any tools, simply lift the chair and take a good look. You'd end up being surprised how frequently the problem is staring you right in the face. Batteries which are declining often show actual physical signs of problems.
Look for protruding or swelling in the particular battery casing. This particular usually is really because the particular battery continues to be overcharged or has become way too very hot, causing the business lead plates inside to warp. If 1 battery looks such as it's "bloated" compared to others, it's a goner. A person should also examine for any leaks or wet places around the best. If acid is seeping out of the caps or even through a break in the plastic material, that battery is definitely compromised.
Don't ignore the terminals, either. When you see the mountain of crusty blue or whitened powder (corrosion) on only one battery, it's an indicator that the particular connection is fragile or the battery is gassing exceedingly. Sometimes, a "bad" battery is in fact just a battery having a bad connection, so give all those cables a shake to make certain they aren't free.
Utilize a multimeter to find the outlier
If everything looks fine bodily, it's time to get a little more technological. A basic multimeter is your greatest friend here. If you don't have got one, they're cheap at any equipment store and may save you a lot of guesswork.
Initial, make sure the particular cart has been charged fully and after that let it sit for some hours (or also overnight) to allow the "surface charge" dissipate. If you test them right after tugging them off the charger, you'll get mistakenly high readings.
Set your own multimeter to DC voltage and touch the probes to the positive plus negative terminals of each individual battery. Let's say you have got a 48-volt program made up of six 8-volt electric batteries. A healthy, fully charged 8-volt battery should actually read close to 6. 4 to 8. 6 volts .
In case you're scanning through so you see 5 batteries at 7. 5V and one particular sitting at seven. 2V or reduced, you've found your problem. That low voltage indicates a dead cell. Set up total pack ac electricity seems "okay, " that one weak link will cause the whole cart to shut lower early under pressure.
Force test: Seeing how they handle stress
Sometimes a battery looks great plus shows a decent volt quality when it's simply sitting there, yet then it totally falls apart the second you step for the "gas. " This particular is where the load test comes in.
In the event that you have a handheld load specialist, great. You connect it up, strike the switch, and see if the needle stays within the green or plunges into the reddish colored. When you don't have a professional specialist, that can be done a "real world" load check along with your multimeter plus a friend.
- Hook the multimeter up to one particular battery.
- Have your friend sit in the cart, set the brake pedal, and then quickly hit the gas (or drive it up a small incline).
- Watch the particular voltage drop.
It's normal with regard to the voltage to dip slightly when the motor draws power. However, if a good 8-volt battery falls down to 4 or 5 volts the moment the cart movements, it's toast. A healthy battery ought to hold its volt quality relatively steady even under an insert. Repeat this intended for every battery in the pack before you find the one that's "diving" more than the rest.
Checking specific gravity with a hydrometer
If you have traditional lead-acid batteries (the type where you possess to add water), a hydrometer is the most accurate way to tell which golf cart battery is bad. This tool measures the density of the particular electrolyte fluid within each cell.
You'll need to wear gloves plus eye protection intended for this because you're dealing with battery acid. Pop the particular caps off plus draw a little bit of fluid to the hydrometer from every cell. The suspended beads or hook will tell you the state of charge.
What you're looking for is regularity . All the particular cells in a single battery should have similar readings. If you have two tissues that are in the "fair" zone then one cell that doesn't move the hook at all, that cell is useless. A battery with one dead cellular cannot be fixed; it's time for the replacement. This test is great due to the fact it can tell you a battery is failing also before the volt quality starts to fall significantly.
Watch out for the "rotten egg" smell
Have you ever walked into your garage while the particular cart was getting and smelled some thing like sulfur or even rotten eggs? That's a massive red light.
Every time a battery is faltering or has a shorted cell, it can get extremely hot during the getting cycle. This causes the electrolyte to boil and discharge hydrogen sulfide fuel. If you notice this, carefully feel the sides associated with the batteries (watch your fingers! ). If one battery is boiling hot to the contact while the other people are just hot, that's the one which offers failed.
Pro suggestion: In case you smell that sulfur scent, stop getting immediately. It's a fire hazard and can lead to the particular battery actually exploding if the pressure gets way too high.
How the cart acts on the run
Occasionally you can tell which battery is bad just by paying interest to how the particular cart handles. If the cart begins strong for the first five mins but then abruptly feels like it lost 50% of its power, that's a classic indication of a "dropping" cell.
Also, pay attention to your charger. If the charger stays on intended for 12+ hours and never seems to shut off, it's likely mainly because one bad battery isn't reaching the required voltage to tell the charger to stop. This "overcharging" of the great batteries because of one bad one is exactly how a single bad battery can ultimately ruin your entire set.
Need to you replace just one battery?
This is the big question everyone asks once they've determined how to tell which golf cart battery is bad. If your batteries are only a year or two outdated, replacing just the 1 bad unit is usually fine.
However, in the event that your battery package is four or five years old, changing just one is often a waste of money. The new, strong battery may be "held back" by the old, weaker ones, plus because from the way they're wired, typically the charger won't become able to treat them all similarly. Usually, within the few months of replacing one older battery, the next oldest one within the pack will give up the particular ghost anyway.
The best rule of thumb? If the pack is old, bite the bullet and replace all of them all. When the pack is relatively new and you just a new freak failure, just swap the bad one. Maintaining your terminals clean and your water levels topped up will make certain you don't possess to go through this whole troubleshooting process again at any time soon.