I just purchased an 08 four seater with doors. The batteries were all bad so I replaced them (all of them) with Gel batteries 3 days ago. I installed them and put them on the charger for a day and the meter on the dash read full charge. Our neighborhood is golf cart and EV friendly so a friend and I took it out today to stretch its legs.
Our neighborhood is also very hilly, steep and long hills. It ran great for about 20 minutes then after climbing its second hill the charge went from 50% to flashing red and I barely made it home. The motor was hot but the batteries were cool. I expected the batteries to last 15+ miles and I guess I got about 4-5. All the cables appear to be perfect and look brand new. With the batteries still hooked up I threw a meter on just to check and it was at 6.9.
The batteries are from a vendor here that supplies UT, they are Dekka (SP).
I am guessing one or more of the new batteries may be bad but could there be another issue? I did not test the batteries before installing them. I photographed the wiring and replaced the cables exactly as they came off.
Am I missing somthing that may be obvious to yall? There is not a dealer close so I will be posting here and combing the FAQ’s but I am stumped right now and need some advice as to what direction to begin looking.
I am planning on replacing the motor from the 5hp to the Ride 4 Fun 7.5HP but I did not want to do that week 1. My wife will kill me.
BTW… The car looks new, was garage stored, has 1K miles and was used in a master planned condo community to show the units. I purchased it for $2000.00 and bought the batteries for $1500.00.
08 with doors in good condition sounds like you got a great deal. It’s real hard to tell you if you have a problem with out knowing some basic info.
What was the state of charge when you started? Batterys can vary greatly as far as how well they work. And how much distance you can get from brand to brand. I would make sure all of your batterys are at 12.7 or higher b4 you start your ride and then go from there.
Hills and passengers can greatly reduce your range. The person that said the gem’s will go 20+ miles on a single charge is talking about a GEM with good batterys and over a Flat aera.
You can also increase you distance by creeping up steep hills insted of Foot to the floor action. You can save lots of battery by just letting up on the pedal while going up steep hills. So see if you can start with a full charge. Test each battery with a volt meter. Write down each batterys voltage. Do your ride and then test again. Let us know the results.
Not sure about your test with the meter. What does “With the batteries still hooked up I threw a meter on just to check and it was at 6.9” mean? The motor should not get hot after 4-5 miles. With the batteries run down, look for small differences in the voltage. Even a few tenths matters. The last time we had a “hot motor” situation, the problem turned out that oil had gotten past the seal and into the motor armature. Look below where the motor mounts to the trans axle to see if there is oil residue there. If so, the oil can be cleaned out and the seal and bearing replaced. Both of these are readily available. Also, the oil in the trans axle should be refilled to ensure it is not low.
Daniel
Thanks for the help. I will leave the batteries on the charger for a few days then test again. Should I disconnect each battery when testing?
Testing with Meter question–With the meter on one battery using its one set of battery terminals, positive and negative;
Does having the batteries connected in the series provide an average charge for all batteries or will the meter show the charge for the individual battery tested?
Once it warms up and dries out slightly I will check for oil leaks.
Still confused by the “6.9”. Is this the voltage you are getting across each of the batteries? For clarity, how many batteries does this GEM use? The answer will be either 6 (12 volt) or 9 (8 volt). It is not necessary to disconnect batteries for testing. Nominal voltage for 12 volt batteries is 12.6 and for 8 volt batteries it is 8.4. Were your old batteries GEL also?
Daniel
[quote=GEMmechanic;23063]Still confused by the “6.9”. Is this the voltage you are getting across each of the batteries? For clarity, how many batteries does this GEM use? The answer will be either 6 (12 volt) or 9 (8 volt). It is not necessary to disconnect batteries for testing. Nominal voltage for 12 volt batteries is 12.6 and for 8 volt batteries it is 8.4. Were your old batteries GEL also?
Daniel[/quote]
6.9" is just a typo. I did not mean 6.9 inches. I am a builder and just typed it fast.
6.9v shown on 3 of the 6 batteries while they were all connected, hence the question do they need to be disconnected prior to testing. I thought that reading might have been across the 6 battery pack leading to an erroneous reading. I currently have 6-12v Deka batteries.
Yes they were gel before.
Which deka batteries did you use sp is a category not a item mine are 8g31 gel? Did you check the voltage an make sure there was 72V’s at the 1st positive to the last negative. When you plug it in what does your charger read? It is easy to hook a battery up wrong, did you check voltage on each battery?
(sp) is spelling and no i did not check total voltage. I will do that tomorrow as according to the gauge they are fully recharged now.
I purchased the batteries from a Battery distributor that services the University of Texas Gems. He looked at my old batteries and provided the matches. Thankyou for the advice, I will try it tomorrow.
If you only got 6.9 volts you have a dud.
[quote=ApacheshoresGEM;23068]
6.9v shown on 3 of the 6 batteries while they were all connected, hence the question do they need to be disconnected prior to testing. … I currently have 6-12v Deka batteries.
.[/quote]
Something isn’t right. If these are 12v batteries, you shouldn’t be reading 6.9v on three of them. When [U]fully charged[/U], they should all read 12.6v give or take few tenths of a volt. A 6.9v reading on a 12v battery is seriously “off”. In whatever condition (charged or discharged), all the batteries should be “about” the same state of charge/discharge. When one is seriously “off”, it will drag down the entire pack as the other batteries are “working harder” to supply the juice amperage being drawn.
You do NOT have to disconnect them; you should be able to put a voltmeter across the plus/minus terminals and read each battery directly.
Al
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Well, it appears that the battery issue is no mas…The batteries where all loose, I had not tightened them adequately and during its first run they or most of them loosened enough to become a problem.
I am still not getting the range I expected in the area I am in. I will check the motor and bearings when it warms up again.
I did the exact same run, exactly and returned home with 50% charge. Thats 100% better and realistically all I would ever need to haul beer to the boat dock.
Thank you all for the fast help, ideas, suggestions and most of all REAL information.
I will be posting again about wheels, 2" to 4" lifts, motor upgrades and controllers…
Now that I know it runs good, its time to tweak it, allot.
Wow loose battery cables? Who would have thunk?
This thread makes me think we should have a drop down or come up with a Check list for new users to fill out that could better help the Fourm Experts figure out what’s the problem.
Don’t know about GEL batteries buy my Trojan FLA batteries took a few (maybe a dozen?) charge/discharge cycles before they came up to full snuff. Even in the Spring when I start using my cart again, they still take a few cycles to “power up” to full strength.
Al
[quote=Gwest;23105]Wow loose battery cables? Who would have thunk?
This thread makes me think we should have a drop down or come up with a Check list for new users to fill out that could better help the Forum Experts figure out what’s the problem.[/quote]
When I installed them, I tightened them to what seemed adequate, short of actually breaking out a torque wrench and verifying FTLBS. This is not my first rodeo with cars or batteries. Driving the car down a very rough dirt road on its maiden trip shook a cable loose or I just missed one and did not tighten it adequately. I did not even consider this as a possibility since I had just installed them. I was seriously concerned that I had other issues being the car was new to me.
I do agree that a simple check list drop down may have guided me down the same path.
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Apache; just to be Clear I wasn’t makeing fun of you or anything, Lord knows I have done some Bone mechanical moves to my GEM including hooking up my Controler Backwards (ouch $$$$) many times people come here just like you have. In question and needing help. Sometimes a simple answer or somthing you looked over (like a loose connection) is the culprit.
When I got my GEM I got a mechanics book with it that had a drop down menu. It took you step threw step in troubleshooting. It was a mechanics book so some of the lingo would be going over many peoples head. And many of the troubleshooting tips start out with them assuming your batteries are fully charged and all equalized and all the grounds are good and battery cables hooked up correctly.
I was thinking of a beginners guide
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[quote=Gwest;23111]Apache; just to be Clear I wasn’t makeing fun of you or anything, Lord knows I have done some Bone mechanical moves to my GEM including hooking up my Controler Backwards (ouch $$$$) many times people come here just like you have. In question and needing help. Sometimes a simple answer or somthing you looked over (like a loose connection) is the culprit.
When I got my GEM I got a mechanics book with it that had a drop down menu. It took you step threw step in troubleshooting. It was a mechanics book so some of the lingo would be going over many peoples head. And many of the troubleshooting tips start out with them assuming your batteries are fully charged and all equalized and all the grounds are good and battery cables hooked up correctly.
I was thinking of a beginners guide[/quote]
Believe me, I had a buddy of mine that builds race cars here when I put the wrench on the battery. Nothing you said would even be close to making fun of me to what he said…YEP , I felt like a noob…
BTW, If I post something stoopid then I deserve full credit, feel free to make fun… I dont take it personally like some…
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