I’m wondering if anyone has experience with the Trojan Hydrolink watering system.
I have a recently acquired 2002 e825. The installed Trojan 30XHS batteries are at about the end of their life, partially due to being left to sit for a year before I bought the vehicle.
Now that I discovered that there actually is a distributor in the area, I’m leaning towards the Trojan T1275 as replacement batteries and the price isn’t too outrageous for the 2 kits necessary. Just like to hear some comments on how well it works.
I have Trojan SCS225 in our 02 e825. I don’t have Trojan watering system but a competitor. While it is easier than manually doing it, the fear (rightly so I have found) of a cell going dry is great. I put clear tubes between the watering caps and you can watch bubbles move. I have still experienced dry cells in a couple batteries, unevenly across the cells.
If I were to consider the investment now, I would do a lithium conversion and be done with messy, corrosive flooded lead acid batteries.
Spend some time reading on this blog, there are a few active lithium threads. It depends on how much work you can do. More powerful lithium batteries at about the cost of FLA or gel.
I have not yet converted. One issue noted has been the early GEM suspension needed the weight to provide a nice ride. Later models are preferred but there are folks doing conversions on these too. Some leave the 12v front batteries as ballast.
Thanks. I had read most of the lithium conversion threads that were more current before I decided I was probably going to stick with the FLA batteries. I didn’t recall seeing a definitive all-in cost anywhere, just bits and pieces of how much things cost and in a number of cases, it seemed to be based on being in the right place at the right time to get a deal parts, mainly the battery packs. It appeared that you might have the numbers worked out more closely than I what I estimated the costs were without getting any screaming deals, hence why I asked.
Interesting note on the suspension. Maybe if I ever get to the point of debating about a conversion on this banged up old unit, I’ll keep that in mind.
The watering system works great. I had one on my last cart, should have taken it off before I sold the cart. IMHO the T1275’s are still the Gold Standard.
Rodney, where is a good source for the watering system? Also, I am having a heck of a time with code 11 while driving and it isn’t the brake. I have replaced the potentiometer and the micro to no avail. Would a used pedal help or is this something deeper?
It’s a six cell Qwik-Fil with one hand pump. It makes adding water a lot simpler but it does not absolve you from monitoring so occasionally I would randomly check cells.
It was the same price as another Trojan battery, about $200 all in. Does $100 including shipping work? If so, DM me and we can work out details. I just bought battery balancers from Inwo so the money is flowing around this forum.
Hi - I saw your response to a thread last year about battery watering systems so I’m reaching out hoping to get some information. I’m looking for a watering system for a 2000 e825 2 seater I just bought. The batteries were dead so I bought new Trojan 30XHS batteries. I looked at the a Trojan system but it’s too pricy for me so I’m looking for a alternative. Can you suggest an alternative? I would appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks.
Hi, I googled battery watering systems and bought a Quick Fil System.
To be honest, it was easier than doing all by hand monthly but did still discover all cells were not evenly watered. I am in LA and they seemed to lose water rapidly.
Ultimately sold water system on eBay and bought a se5 of green LiFePO lithium cells. Much better performance, easier maintenance and they don’t try to destroy everything like FLA.
Yeah, I never did go with the trojan batteries or a watering system. Ended up with Deka DC31DT / NAPA 8231 / O’Reilly 31DCM batteries in the '02 eL
Kind of a pain in the ass. Learned a bunch about these carts and their nuances, I went into it viewing it like my forklift, scissor lift, and motorized pallet jacks - and that wasn’t really the right approach. Anyway, got to test out some new ideas for Dave, mixing in a LiFePo4 booster pack to bring the cart up to 84 v, which was neat.
But, in the end for all the lead acid headaches I’ve had along the way, I wish I had just bought 25 green cells and shunt ballencers.
Ok - thanks for the feed back. I googled systems and even talked to a few companies that sounded like they make the, but no luck. I’ll keep watering them individually by hand and hopefully learn to be neater.