Garrett’s Golf Cars Battery Maintenance Tutorial:
If you own or plan to own an electric golf cart, understanding how to properly care for your batteries is a must. Without proper care, your golf cart battery can become corroded and lose its ability to power your cart. Following the techniques provided in the video and guide below will ensure that your golf cart battery is always in the best condition possible.
Charging Your Golf Cart Battery
Keeping your golf cart battery at full charge when not in use is an important part of overall maintenance. Before you begin charging your golf cart battery, there are a few safety tips you should be aware of.
- Always charge your golf cart batteries in a well-ventilated area
- Never smoke while charging or performing any kind of maintenance on your golf cart batteries
- Don’t attempt to charge a battery that has loose or corroded terminals, or dry cells
- Make sure your golf cart battery charger is working properly
Whilst it isn’t necessary to recharge your golf cart after every single use, it's good to get into the habit. Recharging your golf cart battery after every use ensures that you will be able to use it with no hassle if something comes up, and that it will be ready to go whenever you are. Out of a stock golf cart, you can expect to go 15-20 miles (depending on the terrain) on a full charge.
Overtime your golf cart batteries can lose some of their charge. However, the charger that you have plugged in doesn't have the ability to sense this loss of charge. By unplugging and re-plugging your charger, you will avoid any loss of charge. If you don’t use your golf cart every day and tend to leave it sitting in the garage or storage for a few weeks at a time, it’s a good idea to remind yourself to disconnect and reconnect the battery charger every few days.
Watering Your Golf Cart Battery
An important part of your golf cart battery maintenance routine is making sure the water level in your battery cells is at optimal height. The water line in each cell should be above the lead element, and about an inch from the top of the cell.
If the lead element is right at water level or above, add some distilled water to bring the level up where it needs to be as tap water contains trace amounts of chemicals that can cause damage to your golf cart batteries in the long run.
You should aim to check the water level in your battery cells every at least once every two months to ensure that your battery isn't ask risk of being ruined due to low water levels. The best time to refill the water in your golf cart batteries is immediately after fully charging your golf cart. By keeping the water at the right level after every charge, you'll eliminate any worries that the level will be too low in the middle of a drive.
Allowing the water level to drop too low can be detrimental to the health of your golf cart batteries. If the water level in your golf cart battery is too low, the plates inside the battery will dry out and begin to flake off. When this happens, you will lose the ability to recharge your golf cart, and you will have to replace your battery altogether. Additionally, your battery can start to overheat and even catch on fire.
Cleaning Your Golf Cart Battery
Keeping the terminal connections on your golf cart battery clean goes a long way towards preserving battery life. If you start to see corrosion building up around your battery terminals, you should clean them off immediately.
Take some water and a little bit of baking soda, and scrub at the corrosion with a tooth brush. Once you’ve removed the built-up corrosion, you can rinse with water and apply a good amount of battery terminal protector to prevent the buildup of more corrosion.
If you need help with your golf cart battery maintenance, you can get expert help at any of our Garrett’s Golf Cars locations. We also have terminal protector spray, maintenance free chargers, and battery fill systems at every location!
At Garrett's Golf Cars, we always recommend Trojan brand golf cart batteries. They are the best batteries on the market and provide longer life and better performance than any other battery you can get. Almost all of the carts we sell here at Garrett's come equipped with Trojan batteries so you know you're getting the best of the best. If you'd like to learn more about the Trojan advantage, click the banner below! As always, give us a call, contact us online, or visit us in-store if you have any questions regarding golf carts and golf cart battery maintenance!
