How long do golf cart batteries last?
The golf cart
is having more and more trouble keeping a charge.
Coming up the hill by the
barn was too much for it a few weeks ago. We had to run an extension
cord and give it a boost before the golf cart could make it home.
We think the batteries are
six or seven years old. Perhaps it's time for a new set?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Five years is typical for the batteries in our cars, which park outside in Michigan winters. The link below claims that premium golf cart batteries could get up to ten years with a desulfator, whatever that is.
http://batterylifesaver.com/2011/08/how-long-do-golf-cart-batteries-last/
C, This post gives a rundown on different types of batteries for solar panels. Golf cart batteries see about the same use pattern as batteries used with solar panels, while car batteries are very different in terms of what we ask of them.
David --- Yep, I think we would have gotten another year or two out of the batteries if we'd known the 50% rule from the beginning. At first, we thought it was good for them to get run way down from time to time, but a couple of years ago we learned otherwise and have been keeping them topped off ever since. Maybe our next set will last a full decade.
You could try to recondition the batteries (when they're discharged).
Pulse conditioning might also help.
For accurate testing you should get a battery hydrometer to test the specifiv gravity of the battery acid.
In another life I was a Battery Charging Election on a nuclear submarine which had an enormous battery. While a hydrommeter is excellent to tell the current charge it does not provide any information on the capacity. Your mechanic should have battery tester that puts a load on the batteryterms test the condition. Granted this is designed to test auto batteries but should give a good indication of overall health. Your golfcart dealer may have a better tester for your specific battery. 50% discharge is considered standard for these types of batteries. Reconditioning Is a good option, I read several solar sites recommend buying used golfcart batteries then recondition then recondition them for years of use. Make sure you follow instructions regarding periodic equalizer charging it does help to keep your batteries in optimum condition. Good luck.
Cooincidentally I removed 6 bad batteries from my house's array this morning. The rest still seem to keep a good charge. They were manufactured in 1993.. 20 years old! These are nicads though, probably your gold cart is lead acid.
If you find a good cheap local source of deep cycle 6 volt batteries, let me know.
I'd say 7 years is a pretty good run for golf cart batteries, esp. if you ran them down several times. You'll do even better if you top them off at 80% or more.
It will be painful, but I recommend buying the entire batch at the same time. If you find you have just one bad one and replace it, it will quickly get dragged down to the level of the others. That strategy would be a better idea on a relatively new set. A load tester is the best way to check their capacity for vehicle use at higher amperage.
I also recommend buying from a golf cart supplier rather than Batteries Plus, as their supply is fresher. Electric vehicle nerds will often request that all the batteries come from the same lot, but I'm not really sure how much that helps over the long term.