Your golf cart batteries should last a long time without having to get replaced.
That’s because you can use a great charger to keep them running smoothly and to avoid any complications with your cart’s operation.
However, there may come a time when your cart’s batteries won’t charge up for some reason.
This situation can be very annoying unless you know how to handle it yourself or with expert help.
1. Your Cart Sat Too Long
Many cart owners who attempt to take their cart out after a lengthy time may find that their battery is not charging.
What is happening here?
There’s a good chance that your battery was left sitting too long and ended up losing most of its charge.
But why should this affect your ability to charge your battery?
There a few reasons why you may end up struggling to get a charge back into your battery here.
First of all, you may have damaged the battery by letting it sit too long.
Typically, this happens if you have left the battery in the sun or in a hot area that allowed the cells to get damaged.
This problem may also occur if you left the batteries out in cold weather and they end up getting damaged in a way that caused your battery to end up being unable to charge as well as it did in the past.
There are a few steps that you can take to manage this situation.
First of all, you may need to talk to a battery expert who can gauge what kind of damage may have occurred.
Be honest here – talk about how you left the cart sitting for too long and that you are worried that this may have caused the battery to get damaged or to lose acid in a way that makes it unable to charge properly.
In some cases, you may be able to get your battery refilled with acid or other types of elements to ensure that it keeps its charge.
In other cases, it may be possible to get damaged cells replaced within the structure of the battery itself.
However, there is also a chance that you may have no choice but to get your battery replaced by a new one – this option is one that we’ll talk about in more depth below.
2. The Charge is Too Depleted
If you drive your cart a lot and often fully deplete the battery before charging, you may end up creating a scenario in which the array refuses to take a charge.
Typically, this situation occurs when you run the battery down so much that there is no electricity left.
This scenario is one that many cart owners may experience and is best avoided to ensure that nothing bad happens to the structure of their battery.
This problem happens because your charger needs to read some charge off of your battery before it starts to operate.
If there is no charge at all, your charger just won’t disperse electricity to the battery.
In this scenario, a brief charge on a general electrical charger may be necessary.
We’re talking no more than a minute or two – just enough to get some power in the battery without damaging its structure.
The best way to avoid this problem is to stop driving your golf cart until the batteries die out.
Too many cart owners make this mistake because they get sick of having to charge it frequently.
This mistake is a big one because deep-cycle batteries are not designed to be discharged that often.
As a result, they may end up getting damaged and struggle to hold a charge after you have done this damage.
As for repairs for this type of damaged battery, you may be able to add some new cells to the array – depending on your options, here – but may have no choice but to replace the battery.
In some situations, you may find that your battery starts charging up well once you stop depleting it too much.
3. Your Battery Has No More Water
Inside of your battery, there should be a certain amount of distilled water that covers the plates completely.
This water can end up leaking or evaporating out of your battery with time and cause issues that may be hard to predict.
Many cart owners don’t know about this problem or don’t manage it properly and let the water come out of their cart’s battery completely.
Unfortunately, a lack of water in your battery will cause it to fail to charge.
The water here is essential for conducting the electricity and focusing it into the cells.
Even less water than normal can cause a malfunction – and having no water can make your battery unable to charge.
This may even lead you to damage the battery if you continually try to charge it up with a dry cell inside.
Thankfully, this problem is very easy to fix.
Just open up your battery, check the depth of water inside of the cells, and use distilled water to replace the old water.
You need distilled and NOT tap water because the latter type has minerals and metals inside that may cause malfunction.
And make sure to check the sides of the container for signs of leaks that may make this situation even worse.
4. Old Age Problems
Here’s another issue that many cart owners experience – a battery that has just aged out.
While a golf cart battery does have a fairly long lifespan, it is not designed to last longer than a decade or so.
After 10 years, you’re going to start seeing a lot of troubles with your battery.
The charge may come out unevenly into the cart or the cells may refuse to hold any charge at all when you try.
This scenario is annoying because your battery will not only produce less power for your cart but also discharge a lot faster.
That symptom is the most obvious sign that it is time to get a new battery – you must be willing to make this step if you want to ensure that your cart battery stays strong and secure and to avoid the kind of charging issues that may otherwise have plagued your cart’s operation.
In some cases, you may be able to buy another type of charger that can provide a smooth electrical flow to charge your batteries.
These types of chargers are designed to add life to the senior citizens of the battery world.
They often add a few years to their life and make them easier to charge.
This step is a good one if you aren’t quite ready to change out your battery but want one that fully charges.
However, this situation has one very clear and obvious step – replacement of the battery.
There comes a time when you just have to let go of the old battery and get a new one in your cart.
Though the cost may be quite high, you are going to add years of life to your cart.
Even better, you are going to get more power and control than you would have if you would have left the old battery intact.
5. Malfunctioning Charger
Lastly, it is important to make sure that you pay attention to the quality of your charger to ensure that you aren’t running into operational issues.
A good battery charger should last you the life of your cart.
However, there are times when it may suffer from malfunction.
When this happens, you’re going to have to figure out what is wrong and fix these issues to keep your cart charged up properly.
First of all, there may be issues with the charger terminals.
Often, this happens if the terminals get dirty or worn down over the years.
You may be able to replace them with new ones and save yourself the replacement cost.
There may also be loose wires in your cart’s charger that may need to be reconnected to keep them as strong and secure as possible for your cart’s high-quality operation.
Other types of repairs may be a little too tough for some to handle on their own.
For example, your cart’s charger may end up with interior electrical problems that cannot be fixed without expert help.
This type of repair is often among the most challenging to perform.
However, with some careful persistence, you may be able to replace these wires if you are very careful with your work.
Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that you’re not going to have much choice here but to replace your charger.
Typically, a malfunctioning charger is one that may require more difficult repairs than you can handle yourself.
Make sure that you pay attention to the type of charger that you buy, here, as you want to make sure that you buy one that is appropriate for your cart model and its battery.
To Replace or Repair?
All of these problems can usually be fixed by a cart expert or by replacing certain parts on the battery or its charger.
However, there is also a chance that you’re not going to be able to fix them properly.
For example, an old battery that no longer charges is probably one that you can’t repair.
In this situation, you are going to need to replace the battery completely to get the cart operating again.
Replacement is often the best choice in many situations because your battery repair may cost as much as a replacement.
For example, putting in new cells may cost nearly as much as just adding a whole new battery.
In some situations, repeated repairs could nickle and dime you.
That said, doing these fixes yourself can safe yourself a lot of money if you don’t want to get the battery replaced.
And we also recommend that you get your battery repaired as much as possible, particularly in electric carts.
In these models, you’ll have many batteries and may need to spend much more than you’d like to get them all replaced.
Repair also helps to prevent you from throwing away a battery.
With so many batteries in landfills, keeping them and repairing them can avoid this issue completely.
But if you find that your battery just won’t hold a charge and you are sick of dealing with it, just throw it away and get a new one.
Yes, it is tough to have to get rid of a good battery like that and may be upsetting for those worried about the environment.
However, there are situations in which it is impossible to avoid this step and you must be willing to perform it to ensure your cart runs right.
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