Winter Camping - Golf Cart

[Mamakat35]

Hello! I am new to seasonal camping and have one season behind me. This summer we purchased a club car golf cart, electric, and now that it is coming into the winter months I’m not sure how to proceed. Our campground is a 12 season campground and I enjoy going up to the mountains and camping in the dead of winter… I love the solitude! However, I’m on sure about the care of a golf cart over the winter months. Do I need to take the batteries out and store them? Or is it like A car that as long as I started up every couple of weeks I should be OK? I do go up to the campground approximately two Dash three times a month. I’m not sure whether people do anything with the golf courts over the winter months… Any advice?

~Heidi

[Cecilt]

Mamakat35 wrote:
Thanks for all the good advice...
As far as the battery tender.. a golf cart has 6 batteries so I’d need 6 tenders..... not convenient.
I’m pretty adept at the winter camping otherwise... just never has a golf cart... sounds like I should be good since it would be used/charged approx 2x /mo at least!

You're probably referencing my post. Tender is not what I was referring to. Maybe I should have said float. My charger can stay plugged in 24/7 as it floats once the batteries are fully charged. After about 28 days it kicks on automatically and brings them up to charge. My last charger did not work this way. My old one you would have to unplug once they were charged and then plug in after 20 days as it did not have the float capability.

Get a good battery charger that has float and no need for extra tenders etc.

[John_Joey]

Mamakat35 wrote:
Yes it would!! Thank you very much!!

CC are 36 or 48 volt. Make sure you buy the correct one.

[Mamakat35]

Yes it would!! Thank you very much!!

[Lynnmor]

Mamakat35 wrote:

As far as the battery tender.. a golf cart has 6 batteries so I’d need 6 tenders..... not convenient.

Would this work for you?

[Mamakat35]

Thanks for all the good advice...
As far as the battery tender.. a golf cart has 6 batteries so I’d need 6 tenders..... not convenient.
I’m pretty adept at the winter camping otherwise... just never has a golf cart... sounds like I should be good since it would be used/charged approx 2x /mo at least!

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Here is a thread on winter camping. It may save you lots of grief.

https://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24160748.cfm

As to the golf cart batteries. Charge them once per month.

[dodge_guy]

IDE be more concerned about the 12 seasons!!!! That sounds pretty bad.

Otherwise just keep them charged and check the water before it gets below freezing. Biggest things is don’t cook the batteries, that will boil the water out and shorten their life.

[tdiller]

Mamakat35 wrote:
Hello! I am new to seasonal camping and have one season behind me. This summer we purchased a club car golf cart, electric, and now that it is coming into the winter months I’m not sure how to proceed. Our campground is a 12 season campground and I enjoy going up to the mountains and camping in the dead of winter… I love the solitude! However, I’m on sure about the care of a golf cart over the winter months. Do I need to take the batteries out and store them? Or is it like A car that as long as I started up every couple of weeks I should be OK? I do go up to the campground approximately two Dash three times a month. I’m not sure whether people do anything with the golf courts over the winter months… Any advice?

~Heidi

On my motorcycles I always plug the battery in to a battery tender when not using them. I don't remove the battery from the motorcycle. It seems to be working since I have had the one battery for almost 9 years now and still going strong. I know I'll probably have to replace it next season.

[Cecilt]

Is your charger a battery maintainer as well. My current charger will fully charge and after about 28 days will automatically click on and bring the batteries up to full charge. I leave my cart plugged in 24/7 when not using it for the few weeks I use it at the beach in the summer. If your charger is like this leave your switch in run not tow. If you leave it in tow it will not charge 100%.

[John_Joey]

First question is it electric or gas. I’m assuming electric since you said batteries.

Next question is the year if in the 2000’s then your charger is setup to start automatically every 15 days as long as you don’t have a power outage. If that happens then you need to unplug everything to reset it.

Batteries love cold weather so that’s a good thing. Your cart more then likely has a run/tow switch. Make sure it’s in tow when not in use. Run will have a parasitic draw. If you don’t disconnect the batteries make sure you charge them after every use then after a couple of week of non use.

[wildtoad]

After use plug the cart into a charger and keep a full charge. Nothing else to do except check water level in the batteries every now and then.

[Lwiddis]

“A 100 percent fully charged battery will not freeze until approximately minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit.”

That should cover most winter camping.

[jkwilson]

If you keep the batteries fully charged they will be fine outside. If they discharge, they can be damaged by cold temperatures.

[Lwiddis]

“as long as I started up every couple of weeks I should be OK?“

Regarding the golf cart batteries, “starting” isn’t a concern. Keeping the battery charged is the key.