There’s nothing worse than having your golf cart run out of charge mid-way through your round. Trust me, and I’ve been there. Having to push a broken-down golf trolley along the 18th fairway is a tiresome task.
In this article, I’ll be talking about how to charge up your golf cart properly, how to maintain its battery life, and how long you should leave it charging to ensure maximum battery life. I’ll also discuss the dos and dont’s of charging your golf cart battery, how easy it can be to overcharge a cart battery, and the dangers of overcharging.
Should I Leave My Golf Cart Charger Plugged In?
Club car a golf cart company recommends golf cart chargers remain unplugged from the golf cart during prolonged storage. Overcharging the cart’s battery can reduce the longevity of the cart’s battery life, harming the battery. Golf cart batteries are expensive to replace.
As with any battery, the more you charge it, the more likely you will damage the battery’s longevity. For that reason, it is not advisable to keep your golf cart charger plugged in for extended periods.
When first buying a golf cart, you should first ascertain how long you need to charge the cart to get maximum use out of it. When preparing to use your cart for the first time, you’ll want to let the battery run down on the cart before you can start properly using the trolley and then charge it up to full power after it has run dead.
After that, you should only charge the golf buggy for the allotted time you need to ensure the buggy itself has enough charge needed for your round. Depending on what type of cart you are using, on average, it can take around eight to ten hours to charge up a golf buggy.
If you’re in the market for a new electric golf cart, you should check out Motocaddy’s range of electric buggies designed and built by professional golfers. It will help you take the strain away from carrying your clubs and start hitting the golf ball much further and longer. One of their best golf buggies is the Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC Electric Caddy – Electric Golf Cart which you can pick up today on Amazon for an incredible price.
The M5 GPS DHC golf cart is one of the best and most reliable caddy’s and comes with a lithium battery. It also has the capability of being fully charged in approximately five hours. As it was designed for multiple golf games, the battery will take you up and down the straights of the course and help you improve your golfing game.
Should You Leave Golf Cart Plugged In When Not In Use?
It is not recommended to leave your golf cart plugged in all the time. Automatic chargers are designed to prevent over-charging but carry the risk of a broken circuit breaker, risking battery damage. It would be best if you left your golf cart on charge for a maximum of eight hours at a time to prevent overcharging.
Electricity is an expensive commodity, and so are golf cart batteries. Overcharging your golf cart’s batteries can be dangerous for your bank account as well as your golf cart. Overcharged batteries can become unstable and burst into flames, and from a safety standpoint, you need to be careful not to leave it plugged in for too long.
Leaving your cart plugged in for too long can increase electricity consumption, which will inevitably cost you more money the longer you charge your cart. So when not in use, it’s wiser to avoid overcharging your golf cart to the extent that you are overloading the battery’s voltage.
That can cause long-lasting damage to the efficiency of the cart and will force you to replace the battery or perhaps the cart sooner than you had desired. Golf is already an expensive enough sport as it is. For any mid-range golfer, high handicapper, or beginners to the sport, I advise you to take good care of your equipment to help you save money and ensure you’re not wasting money needlessly.
If you’re looking for more information on the costs that golf can have on your bank account, you should look at my guide, which answers the question, is golf the most expensive sport in the world? You’ll find the succinct answer in my guide, but golf can cost you a lot of money, and you can save some of that money by looking after your equipment and not overcharging your golf cart battery.
How Long Can You Leave A Golf Cart Charging?
As a general rule, you should not leave a golf cart charging for longer than 8-10 hours. Most high-quality golf carts take only five hours to charge, while some can take a little longer depending on their battery level and the voltage needed to keep them running.
A standard golf cart battery will have between 38 and 46 volts of power. The higher the voltage, the longer the golf cart’s battery will last, and the more power you’ll get out of that cart – that depends on the speed you’re using on the golf cart and how you use that cart over its terrain.
For any cart, whether it has a 36 or 48 voltage battery, you should never charge it for longer than 10 hours at one time. It is dangerous and may cause the battery to overheat, but it will also overcharge if you’re buying an electric cart from a modern-day supplier.
It’s estimated that a modern 48-volt golf cart battery should take anywhere from three and seven hours to charge fully. Quality, age, and damage of the cart will also affect the timing. Newer batteries will last longer, while older, more worn-out batters are more likely to take longer to charge.
If you’re in the market for a new electric golf cart, I advise you to purchase a cart with a lithium-ion battery that can be ‘topped up between rounds. Motocaddy have specialist advice available on their FAQ forums for golfers using lithium batteries, specifically advising golfers using lithium batteries not to charge them for over five hours.
Motocaddy can sometimes be an expensive brand that I would only advise experienced golfers to purchase. Likewise, electric golf carts are costly. If you’re a higher handicapper or a beginner golfer, I would advise against purchasing an expensive electric golf buggy at the start of your golfing journey.
Instead, you should purchase a standard pushcart like the CaddyTek 4 Cruiser Cart. Perhaps one of the best and most comfortable pushcarts on the market, the CaddyTek is the easy way to transition your clubs around the course and can fold up to a compact shape that will easily fit into the trunk of your car. Be warned; these trollies are in high demand, so head over to Amazon quickly to secure your CaddyTek golf cart while stocks last!
Can You Overcharge An Electric Golf Cart?
You can overcharge an electric golf cart. Overcharging can damage the cells in your golf cart’s battery, reducing the battery’s longevity, making your cart more likely to lose its charge faster than if you used an automatic charger that turns itself off when the battery is full. Don’t drive a golf cart until the battery dies; lead-acid batteries won’t last as long when drained to 0.
When it comes to getting the most out of your electric golf cart, the first trick is not to overcharge the cart’s batteries. Flooding your battery’s cells with more electricity than they can hold causes damage to the cells within your cart’s batteries. That means the cells are less likely to absorb and hold a charge in the future and lose charge much faster than a brand new cart battery.
Overcharged batteries will boil the sulfuric acid inside of their cells, which can cause swelling inside of the battery, due to an imbalance of chemicals. With hydrogen gas being emitted from the expanding battery, which is seriously flammable if you introduce a small electrical spark, an overcharged and overworked battery can become a dangerous object.
My best advice to prevent overcharging your golf cart batteries is to set a timer while you charge the battery. You will also want to ensure that you check the battery’s heat and charge at regular intervals to ensure the battery doesn’t overheat and hasn’t finished charging too soon.
One other way to ensure the longevity of your electric golf cart is not to overwork its battery when out on the course. Stick to pathways and flat terrain as much as possible and don’t over-rev or work the cart as you move up and down the course’s undulations.
Likewise, don’t drive your cart through sand hazards, as that will overrev the cart’s engine and will also infringe on what many would consider as proper golfing etiquette. For more advice on the do’s and don’ts of the golf course, you should take a look at my guide on the strict rules of golf etiquette.
How Often Should You Add Water To Your Golf Cart Batteries
You should add water to golf cart batteries whenever the batteries are changed. Adding water after charging prevents acid from spilling over; add the water to 1/2 inch from the top of the battery. Change your golf cart batteries every six months, check your batteries often to ensure they’re well hydrated and operating at optimum water levels.
Putting too much or too little water in your golf cart batteries can be detrimental to the battery’s lifespan. Too much water and you can flood or overflow the acid tanks inside the battery as you charge it. Too little water and you’ll find the battery won’t charge as there is not enough water to allow the electrolysis charging process inside of the battery to take place.
Striking the balance by filling the battery with the correct amount of water is vital to maintaining appropriate care for your golf cart batteries. Golfers should also try not to fill their cart’s batteries with generic tap water. Tap water contains minerals that can be detrimental to the lifespan of your golf cart’s battery, so it’s best to use distilled water when filling up your golf cart’s batteries.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to maintain and look after your golfing equipment. Regular maintenance is a must!
I recommend you read my guide on how to look after your golf gloves, I recommend all golfers to clean their gloves as much as possible to help them ensure they are consistently hitting straight shots. The same applies to golfers looking to maintain their golf cart’s battery life and ensure the cart is regularly topped up with water.
How Do You Trick A Golf Cart Charger To Charge A Dead Battery
You should never try to trick a golf cart charger into charging a dead battery. Instead, you seek professional help from the battery manufacturer. It is always unwise to tamper with golf cart batteries as you can risk electrocution, a fire, or burn yourself with battery acid.
Electricity is a dangerous element. That’s why if you have a dead cart battery, you should always seek professional assistance from the battery manufacturer on how to load more charge into your cart battery instead of trying to trick the battery into charging itself with its original charger.
Risks of electrocution, fires, or even acid burns from the battery’s acid fluid can occur if a golfer chooses to tamper with the mechanics of a dead golf cart battery. For that reason, you should refrain from trying to trick a golf cart charger into charging a dead battery and instead take the dead battery to your manufacturer, who will be able to provide you with assistance, professionally and safely recharging that battery for you.