Replaced my 6v Golf Cart batteries with 12v marine batteries today.

[dustyk70]

And Man did that make a difference. The Cart is a 36 volt system and all the info I could come up with said that the marine batteries wouldn't hold up to the draw of the golf cart. WELL, I tried it anyway. I am amazed that My daughter and I rode on the cart for at least 2-1/2 hours and the batteries still showed a full charge even under power, and is better and lighter than the 6v batteries that is supposed to be used. Plus these were half the price of the 6v stockers. I AM a genius.

 

[leVieux]

My late friend, Isaac "Butch" Hanks, owned numerous service stations, convenience stores, etc. As a large purchaser of batteries, he got the VIP tour of a battery factory.

Butch told me that the warehouse had all sorts of batteries without labels. The factory had a warehouse flatbed truck, with a bunch of rolls of battery labels, If an order for 50 marine batteries came in, the workers went to a stack of batteries and put "Marine Battery" labels on them. Or, "Diesel Battery", or "BassBoat Battery", or "Golf Cart Battery", etc. According to Butch, the only batteries that were actually different were the Aviation Batteries.

leVieux

For whatever it is worth......................................

 

[JWG223]

Be careful draining a battery too hard, though. CR123's explode violently, turning flashlights into weak pipe-bombs blowing lenses out, etc. if they are drained too hard.

 

[dustyk70]

That would be cool, Not.

 

[dustyk70]

After running the cart for a long while, I checked the cables (which I changed to 2 guage) and they weren't hot and the batteries were normal as well.

 

[Hitman]

My Father-n-Law tried to rig something similar and it supposedly burnt the electric engine up in it.

 

[king4456]

My Father-n-Law tried to rig something similar and it supposedly burnt the electric engine up in it.

That's kinda what I was thinking might happen. You have to understand my brother(dustyk70) is like Tim the tool man Taylor.....more power!

 

[drumz2129]

My Father-n-Law tried to rig something similar and it supposedly burnt the electric engine up in it.

As long as he is using 3 12v batteries in series with each other (maintaining 36v supply) the motors should be fine.

 

[dustyk70]

As long as he is using 3 12v batteries in series with each other (maintaining 36v supply) the motors should be fine.

Thank you drum...

 

[jimdana1942]

Dats what eye kall injunuity.

I was talkin' to a auto shop owner while back about batteries. I was discussing how automobile batteries just don't seem to hold up very well and asked him if a marine battery would last longer and he said yes.

 

[edman87k5]

I did the same about 5 years ago on an old 36v, 3 wheeled cart for my dad. The 3 trolling batteries do not have the reserve capacity that the 6 x6v had, but that was expected because it is physically half the batteries. I did have one explode while I was driving it for unknown reasons, but it was exchange under warranty.
I Only did it because the 12v trolling batteries were at the time $130 or so out the door for all 3 while a set of 6v was goin to run almost $400 and I did not feel the cart was worth that investment. Had it been a newer nicer cart, it would have got a new set of 6v in it.
Also, the charger did not like the setup and didn't last long. I don't believe it was fully charging the 3x 12v batts and it bit the dust after maybe a year of use. We had a replacement luckily.
I actually need to go get the cart and figure out why it has quit working. I suspect one of the batts has failed or the charger has. Pops said it doesn't work anymore.

To the OP, how are you charging? I thought about getting an onboard 36v charger for a boat to use but again, cost was a big factor and I already had 2 industrial chargers.

 

[dustyk70]

Using the factory 36v charger but only plugged it in to make sure I was getting the correct voltage (around 38-39v). The batteries didn't need a charge when I parked it last night. I also liked that I can plug into one battery and still get 12v for lights, which it does not have yet. I hope the charger works for this for a while. This golf cart is getting expensive. First I was at work when my wife bought it about a year ago for 700$ which was a good deal. Then she jackknifed the trailer at the house and caused 800$ damage to my truck. Now over 300$ for batteries and accessories. Whatareyagonnado?

 

[I_FLY_LOW]

Whatareyagonnado?

Upgrade to 48v, and hang on?