Golf cart batterys

Hi,

If there is shore power speed of charging is mostly a non issue.

My ultimate charger would be sensor temperature controlled.

If speed of charge (length of time) is an issue, then apply 14.8 volts to a battery at 50% depth of discharge and the amount of AMPERAGE you see flowing under that condition sets the OPTIMUM upper limit of the capacity of the charger you should seek. If it's 83 amps, so be it. An 83 ampere charger would offer the optimum fast level of charge for that battery (series, parallel, it doesn't matter).

CONTROL of the amperage is another matter. There's no sense at all, if a charger starts out at 83 amps, then wimps down to say 45 amps with a battery still needing 35% of capacity worth of charging. The 14.8 volt level of charge at 20C should STAY AT 14.8 volts until the electrolyte starts bubbling. Then it can be backed off. The algorithm used in smart chargers seldom even gets close to this optimum,

For forum members foaming at the mouth to contest my recommendation, go back and read the first ten words of my response again.

When time is NOT an issue 20% of the total ampere hour rate is a great compromise. Around 45 amps.

For optimum life 5% of amp hour capacity is excellent. Ten amperes. Around 15 or so hours to recharge 50% depleted batteries.

It all depends on how stupid the smart charger algorithm is.

Now go back and re-read how I phrased "bubbling". Light bubbling is not vigorous bubbling. As batteries charge throughout the protocol, maintaining a slight cell bubbling is the best possible compromise between speed and plate erosion. This is where a smart charger is as dumb as dirt. They can't tell. Only a programmable charger can be tweaked to try and do this.

But if a battery is primarily maintained by shore power a person can get away with near murder, unless the battery charge un-control is something out of Frankenstein's Castle.

NinerBikes wrote:
Of concern is how quickly you need to recharge your batteries, are you with a campground with hookups or off the grid with a generator and solar panel recharge combo.

If you have a 8955 WFCO brand charger convertor in your palomino, like I do in my Palomino Gazelle 21, then yes, consider getting a good 3 stage charger and a generator that puts out more than 120V.

Many folks here like the Iota's or the Progressive Dynamics units. I bought a PD 9245, have a honda eu2000i, and also have a 120w portable solar panel with charge controller that I bought from Solar Blvd.

120 W folding portable solar panel.

I am happy with the recommendations I got from folks here and with the results I am seeing. Run the generator for an hour and a half or so each morning, let the PD or Iota accomplish the "Bulk charge" function of recharging your batteries and let the solar panels top off the batteries with no noise and a couple of re aiming points per day, to get 5,6, 7 or more hours at around 6 amps per hour with solar.

You need to do a consumption analysis to determine your exact needs, but I like to use the 3 stage PD 9245 to do the bulk charging early in the day, and let the solar do what it does best in my situation, top off the last 10 to 15% charge when sunny out. YMMV, so many variables to consider.

Nice setup!

Compared to mine, the differences are that I have AGMs and I favor temp comp charging. I have a WFCO 8735 in the TT believe it only contributes during the non-solar times of the day. I never see more than 13.6V from the WFCO and believe it cannot hurt the AGM. The solar is temp comp'ed and it hit 15.45V today.

The van carries two CF-35 12V compressor fridge/freezers. This bank is charged with solar as well. I do use a $50 portable ambient temp comp charger to bulk charge that bank. The equipment details are in my profile.

I would find the PD/IOTA non temp comp converter/chargers inappropriate for AGMs. For speedier charging, my choice would be the Parallax Paramode 4455TC for $175. Click on Voltage Curves to see how the temp comp works.

AGMs will always charge faster. (And I never say always!).

HTH;
John

Of concern is how quickly you need to recharge your batteries, are you with a campground with hookups or off the grid with a generator and solar panel recharge combo.

If you have a 8955 WFCO brand charger convertor in your palomino, like I do in my Palomino Gazelle 21, then yes, consider getting a good 3 stage charger and a generator that puts out more than 120V.

Many folks here like the Iota's or the Progressive Dynamics units. I bought a PD 9245, have a honda eu2000i, and also have a 120w portable solar panel with charge controller that I bought from Solar Blvd.

120 W folding portable solar panel.

I am happy with the recommendations I got from folks here and with the results I am seeing. Run the generator for an hour and a half or so each morning, let the PD or Iota accomplish the "Bulk charge" function of recharging your batteries and let the solar panels top off the batteries with no noise and a couple of re aiming points per day, to get 5,6, 7 or more hours at around 6 amps per hour with solar.

You need to do a consumption analysis to determine your exact needs, but I like to use the 3 stage PD 9245 to do the bulk charging early in the day, and let the solar do what it does best in my situation, top off the last 10 to 15% charge when sunny out. YMMV, so many variables to consider.

RJsfishin wrote:

sweetridehd wrote:
This spring I'm upgrading to 6 volt golf cart battery's.
My question is , do I need to upgrade the charging system of the camper ?
The rv is a 2013 Palomino B-800.
Any input ?

Upgrading ? From what ? Are you sure you are upgrading ?
Knowing what I know now, if you have 2 almost new group 27 12v batteries that have an AH rating of 105 - 115, I would not consider the 6'ers an upgrade, and I would keep what you have, because you will not see any increase in performance.
Dadgummit anyhow, there I go, off topic again,....sorry

X2! Not everyone sees 2 x 6V GCs as an upgrade over 2 x 12V dual purpose.

Of course, I don't see either choice as an upgrade over AGMs. :)

HTH;
John

Do I need to upgrade the charging system: Likely no on NEED but it may be desirable.. I will elaborate slightly by talking about TWO converters and different models.

Parallex 7300 series (NOT the 7300T) is below what I consider the minimum for a converter (The 7300T is the minimum) this is a single stage unit (2 stage on the T) and charges very slowly, it may never actually get the batteries to FULL in fact, or if it does then like the older Magnetek 6300 it will boil 'em dry (The 7300 has far better regulation than the 6300 did (By the way Parallex bought Magnetek) Thus I've not heard of the 7300 being a battery boiler.

On the other hand Damon installed a Progressive Dynamics 9180 WITH optional charge wizard in my choach. (The 9200 line is equal to the 9180 with wizard built in).

This is just about the best 3-stage made, (In doing lots and lots of research I have yet to find one better, Several I'd rank as "Just as good" But none better)

The next issue is how BIG (Which model in any given line) do you want?

For one pair of GC2, 70 amps is about the biggest you want. If your current converter is say a 35 amp, then going to a larger one will speed recharge You may need to improve wiring to handle the higher current) if that is important to you.

sweetridehd wrote:
This spring I'm upgrading to 6 volt golf cart battery's.
My question is , do I need to upgrade the charging system of the camper ?
The rv is a 2013 Palomino B-800.
Any input ?

Upgrading ? From what ? Are you sure you are upgrading ?
Knowing what I know now, if you have 2 almost new group 27 12v batteries that have an AH rating of 105 - 115, I would not consider the 6'ers an upgrade, and I would keep what you have, because you will not see any increase in performance.
Dadgummit anyhow, there I go, off topic again,....sorry

Boatycall wrote:
I have 6 Golf Carts on the factory converter/charger, and it works great.

What if he has an old single stage charger? Or even a newer converter without a pendant or module that makes it a 3 stage charger? When I bought my 2009 MH it came with a 55A IOTA converter (DLS-55) but it didn't have the IQ4 module that effectively makes it a 3 stage charger. My point? You really don't know for sure unless you ask.

RoyB wrote:
The rule of thumb I follow is to have around 20AMPS per battery of charge capacity. In the case of using two 6VDC batteries would fall under the two battery rule. This would need a minimum of 40AMPS of available charge current.

You can get away with smaller charge capacity but it will not recharge your batteries back in a three hour charge time which is what most folks want when camping off the power grid.

Roy Ken

???

Respectfully, I'm an Electrical Engineer, with 6 golf carts in my TC. There is no rule of thumb when it comes to charge rate, other than to not over charge them. And two six volts doesn't count as "2" batteries. Electrically it is one 12v source with more amp hours of capacity. Whether you slow charge, trickle charge or fast charge, you're charging, it's just a matter of how long it takes. In fact, slow charging is better, it reduces boiling.

To answer the OP's question-- No, you do not have to change anything about your charging system. I have 6 Golf Carts on the factory converter/charger, and it works great.

Hi,

Smk has it right. We need to know what converter is there. What you have will work--but will it work well???