Golf cart battery maintenance is very important to get the best possible performance out of your golf cart. Whether you have a Club Car, EZGO, Yamaha golf cart, or one of the other golf cart models, below are our top nine golf cart battery maintenance tips to keep any golf cart batteries in excellent condition.
1) Keep the top of each golf cart battery dry, clean and tight.
You can clean the batteries with a bristle brush and a solution of baking soda and water, but definitely wear eye protection and rubber gloves (no jewelry). You can also spray the cables with anti-corrosive spray to prevent corrosion and rust.
Baking soda & water added to sulpher deposits on battery
Overall rinse with hose
Dry with towel...
Batteries cleaner now
2) Charge for 8 to 10 hours with the proper golf cart battery charger.
This is based on an 80% discharge, so at the time of charging the golf cart batteries would still be 20% charged. Best practice is to charge overnight after you are done with your cart for the day. Even if you only used the cart for 5 minutes, you’ll want to give the golf cart batteries a good charge. If you are looking to buy a high quality golf cart charger that you can plug in and forget about overnight (no manual shut off needed), check out our selection of automatic Club Car Chargers, EZGO Chargers and Yamaha Golf Cart Chargers.
3) Fill all golf cart battery cells ONLY AFTER charging, and do not over fill.
Fill battery cells (aka water fill holes) with distilled water (not tap water) ¼ to ½ inch above the plates. With ¼ inch of water you’ll have to check your batteries more often, but at ½ inch you’ll likely have more acid accumulation on the tops of the batteries. Either level is acceptable; it’s really your call.
4) Use golf cart batteries often.
Do a refresh charge every 45 to 60 days, and even more frequently in hotter climates. We do know that this can be difficult to do if you use your golf cart on a seasonal basis, but if you use a golf cart battery charger with an advanced storage mode feature you'll get an automatic refresh charge every so often so long as the charger is plugged in to your golf cart while you are away.
5) Do not over charge your golf cart batteries.
If you have an automatic golf cart charger, this is not a concern for you!
6) Do not discharge golf cart batteries beyond an 80% discharge.
It is recommended that you discharge your golf cart batteries to between 50-80 percent, and not beyond 80 percent or to the point where your golf cart batteries are completely dead.
7) Do not charge frozen batteries.
8) Check water levels regularly and fill when needed; when needed is when you can see the battery plates are about to be above waterline.
Fill cell until water is at fill line-see cell level to the left of the filler funnel; the water is up to the bottom of the cylinder for that cell
9) Record the battery voltage of each golf cart battery cell for future reference.
Golf cart batteries should last for 5-6 years. So after 5-6 years if you're finding your golf cart is getting sluggish, it may be time for a new set of batteries. We suggest purchasing either Powertron or Trojan Battery brands for best results.