Thank you….I live in a town called RIO verde which is between scottsdale and fountain hills
I was able to get 18 holes of golf on the cart and then shortly after, the -15 low voltage warning came on. I would think a guy could get more than 18 holes in but maybe this is the limit. This 2000 GEM have 2500 miles on it and is in pretty good shape. The batteries are supposedly new.
18 Holes is a pretty open distance. If you play golf like me that could be 30 miles of driving… Damn slice.
True that! I will just charge it after each round……but…I am still thinking g a upgrade tot he old charger might be needed
Early on in this conversation you were asked if you charge the vehicle every time you brought it home and you never answered that. It’s a valid and important question since it can mean “new” batteries are no longer going to act like they are new very quickly.
Also asked:
Unlike the golf carts at the course YOU are now the one who has to maintain the vehicle and just like a ICE based car or truck there are things you need to know and do to keep the vehicle operating reliably.
For example, you have to change the oil regularly or take it someplace for someone to do this.
No doubt you didn’t know that lead acid batteries require regular maintenance and regular recharging and on a GEM, besides keeping the tires aired up, there’s little regular maintenance outside of the batteries. Lead acid batteries, including AGM and gel need to be fully charged after every use or their service life will be diminished. If you discharge them below 12V(measured with no load) then you also reduce their service life and that 12V level can show up on your screen as 50% 40% or 60% depending on how it was calibrated. You just need to test this once to know what you have.
The older models also only go through one charge cycle and then stop until AC power is disconnected and reconnected. So if you discharge to a really low level and the charge cycle times out but the batteries are not fully charged, it will not fully charge the batteries. You might consider getting one of those automatic timers(less than $20) which allows you to turn on the charger and after 12 hours turns it off and back on again for another 12 hours.
It was also mentioned to check the acid level in the batteries and unfortunately that is something which needs to be done about once a month. Because, if the acid level gets below the top of the plates inside the battery, capacity is GREATLY reduced on that battery and it will effect charging and operation of all the other batteries since they are connected in series(each battery is connected to the next battery in a chain/string/series).
If you want to end all this battery maintenance then there are Lithium based battery kits which can be installed and pretty much ALL of those battery maintenance issues of lead acid batteries goes away. You still can not drive until the battery is dead empty but some lithium kits even prevent you from destroying the battery pack by doing this.
Or, maybe you can hire a kid on your street to check and maintain the batteries every 2 weeks like a lawn mowing service…