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BASIC GOLF CAR BATTERY MAINTENANCE

Modern electric golf cars are simple and easy to maintain, but charging and maintaining your golf cart's batteries and charging system is important and a process worthy of caution. Serious, even dangerous threats can eventuate by improperly maintaining your golf cart’s batteries.

A lack of knowledge about basic golf cart battery maintenance can lead to all kinds of problems. Some users assume that the batteries that operate their golf carts are maintenance-free. However, the key to achieving optimum performance and long life is a solid golf cart battery maintenance program.

It is recommended that you obtain the following equipment for use in a Golf Cart Battery Maintenance Program: A wrench; distilled water; a voltmeter (an instrument used for measuring the voltage between two points in an electric circuit); a hydrometer (a tool used to measure the specific gravity of the electrolyte solution); a post cleaner; some baking soda; petroleum jelly and possibly the most important of all – goggles and gloves.

Always wear protective clothing, acid proof gloves and goggles when handling lead acid batteries and remove all jewellery. It’s important to have lots of water and baking soda nearby as this will neutralise any acid spills from battery refilling and prevent further corrosive damage. Remember, the electrolyte is a solution of acid and water, so skin contact should be avoided and, do not smoke near batteries and never add acid to a battery.

Golf carts are typically powered by six lead-acid batteries mounted beneath the front seat.

First of all, examine the outside appearance of the batteries. You should look for cracks in the container and the top of the battery. Posts and connections should be free of dirt, fluids and corrosion. You should replace any damaged batteries.

Check that all vent caps are tight. Then clean the battery top with a cloth or brush and a solution of baking soda and water ensuring that any cleaning solution or any other foreign matter does not get inside the battery. Then rinse with clean water and dry with a clean cloth. Solvents or spray cleaners should not be used. Then clean the battery terminals and the inside of the cable clamps with a post and clamp cleaner. Reconnect the clamps to the terminals and thinly coat them with petroleum jelly. Always keep the area around the batteries clean and dry.

Water should only be added after fully charging the golf cart battery.

Prior to charging, there should be enough water to cover the plates. If the battery has been discharged (partially or fully), the water level should be above the plates.

Some important things to remember are: Do not allow plates to be exposed to air and do not fill the water all the way up to the cap. Do not use water with a high mineral content. You should use only distilled or deionised water.

Check water levels in each cell of each battery weekly to ensure that the leaded plates in the battery are submerged in liquid.

Don't fill the cell all the way up -- add just enough water to cover the plates.

Lastly, please follow the manufacturer's instructions for maintaining your golf cart’s batteries. NEVER try to "jump-start" dead batteries using a typical automobile's battery or charger. While golf car batteries look very similar to the battery in your car, the system as a whole is different enought that you risk serious damage to your golf cart's entire electrical system. Should you need to charge seemingly 'dead' golf car batteries, get your cart home to your normal charger, or consult with the person who maintains your golf course's carts.

solar golf cart battery chargerLET THE SUN CHARGE YOUR
GOLF CART BATTERIES!

As if it already wasn't cheap enough to operate your electric golf car, now you don't even need 'juice' from your electrical outlet to charge up your cart! SunCatcher Solar Roof Panels capture the sun's energy and charges your golf cart any time it's exposed to sunlight...which is likely to be almost ALWAYS while you are using your golf car! Here's a quick way to double the battery life in your electric golf car (by insuring your batteries are seldom deeply discharged...a real batter-life "killer") and make a positive contribution to the environment!

Golfers already using the SunCatcher rave about it...find out more about it by clicking here.

 

Univeristy Students Power Up Vehicle with Combination Wind-and-Solar Project

Saginaw Valley State University (Michigan) is looking to the sky to operate some of its campus vehicles.

Four students are building a wind and solar charging station for an electric golf cart used to run to and from the university greenhouse.

"The eventual goal is to have multiple stations around campus," said Russ Clark, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Clark hopes to someday power up to 10 more small vehicles on campus with renewable energy, "so we're not putting out greenhouse gases and we're not getting electricity from coal-fired power plants," Clark said.

The four students - Jason Gerard, 28, of Bay City; Paul Miller, 23, of Saginaw Township; Ben Weihl, 36, of Midland, and Ron Allison, 47, of Clio - have received close to $10,000 for the project.

The money came from SVSU's Student Research and Creativity Institute. All the students are seniors studying electrical engineering.

"I think it's pretty awesome," Gerard said. "I think it marks a transition that's going to need to be made to get away from coal-fired energy production."

The first station will be built in the next few weeks at the university greenhouse on North Michigan Avenue near Pierce Road.

The station will consist of a 6-by-8 foot wooden shed fitted with four solar panels, totaling 800 watts, and a 400-watt wind turbine standing about 12 feet tall with 46-inch diameter blades. The unit also will be fitted with a bank of eight, 6-volt batteries to store energy when it's not being used.

"It's going to be a true off-grid system," Weihl said.

The students plan to have the station ready by April 25 for a project symposium at the university.

The station will be mobile, with a collapsible turbine mast, so it can be shown off at various events.

When finished, students will be able to plug the golf cart into an outlet, just like one on a wall.

Clark said he's been thinking about the idea for more than a year. It started when gas was $4 a gallon. The equipment has already been delivered; the solar cells came from Florida and the wind turbine came from Minnesota, the students said.

Plugging the golf cart in every night should give it the sufficient energy needed to make its normal runs of two-to-three hours a day, Clark said. There may even be electricity left over to help power the greenhouse, Weihl said.

SVSU has two other electric golf carts that could be charged with other stations, and eight small gas-powered vehicles that could be converted to run on electricity, Clark said.

He plans to refine the station design with other students, and look into horizontal windmills for the future stations, which spin like a top as opposed to traditional, vertical turbines.

The station should be up to 40 percent efficient, the students said.

But that's a bit of a misnomer.

"We're getting it from wasted energy, something that wouldn't be used in the first place," Clark said.

story courtesy of www.MLive.com

 

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