Whether you’re out for a day of golf or driving around the neighborhood, the last thing you want to deal with is a dead golf cart battery. Golf cart batteries are designed to be long-lasting and durable. Like all things, however, the older they get and the more they’re used, the prone they are to issues.
There are many reasons that your golf cart battery is dying faster than it should. In this article, we’re going to take a look at the 10 most common issues and what you can do to fix them. This article will also help you determine whether or not you need new batteries or if you can salvage the ones you have.
Keep in mind that these issues aren’t in order from most common to least common. Golf cart batteries die for a wide variety of reasons and any one of these issues could be to blame.
1. Overcharging the Battery
Problem
This is one of the most common issues when it comes to golf cart batteries dying too quickly. It’s extremely easy to hook your batteries up to the charger and forget about it. Overcharging a battery will damage its cells which ends up causing it to die quicker than it should.
Remedy
Fixing this problem is one of the simplest fixes on this list: don’t overcharge your battery. If you’re willing to spend a little extra money, you can purchase a battery charger (here’s our favorite) that automatically turns off when your battery is fully charged. Otherwise, keep an eye on your batteries as they’re charging and disconnect the charger as soon as they’re done.
2. Driving the Golf Cart Until the Battery Dies
Problem
You might have heard in the past that it’s good to use your battery until it dies and then charge it. While this may hold true for electronics like computers and cell phones, it’s counter-productive for golf cart batteries, specifically lead acid batteries. Draining your battery too much before charging does the same thing that overcharging does. Avoid doing this if you want to extend your battery life.Lead acid batteries can only be discharged to 50% or they will be permanently damaged.
Remedy
Once again, this is a fairly easy fix that only takes discipline and decent memory. You don’t have to charge your batteries every single time you use them, but you should charge them every couple of days at least. Charging them every time you use them is ok, just make sure you don’t end up overcharging them.
3. Dead Battery Cells Inside the Battery
Problem
Dead battery cells are usually the result of overcharging or completely draining your batteries. Dead battery cells are essentially wasted space within your battery. They take up the same amount of space as a healthy cell does, but they don’t hold a charge. The more dead cells you have, the faster your battery will die.
Remedy
By using a hydrometer, you can test the current load of your batteries versus what they should be according to their label. If the load is lower than it should be, dead cells are most likely to blame for your rapidly dying batter.
Unfortunately, dead cells are difficult and expensive to replace and you’re better off buying a new battery rather than trying fixing your old one.
4. Low Water Levels in the Battery (Most Common)
Problem
Low water levels are far and away the most common reason for golf cart batteries dying too fast. This problem is so common because it’s difficult to catch without performing regular checkups and maintenance on your golf. Most golf cart owners aren’t even aware that they need to regularly balance their water levels.
Low water levels are caused by several things, the most common being overworking your cart. Overworking the battery causes overheating which results in evaporation, therefore lowering the water level of the battery. Batteries also lose water simply from the summer heat causing condensation and evaporation.
Remedy
This problem requires the straightforward fix of simply adding distilled water to the water container portion of your battery. Make sure not to get water on the terminals when you’re doing this as that will cause a whole other set of problems.Always check the water in your golf cart regularly, about once a week in the peak season and a few times over winter.
5. Using the Vehicle to Roughly
Problem
Golf carts are meant to be leisure vehicles that get you from point A to point B in a slow and steady manner. Treating your golf cart like it’s a racecar is a good way to ruin your battery as well as other vital components of your cart.
Remedy
As previously stated, overusing your golf cart will cause overheating which leads to low water levels in your battery. Avoid going pedal to the metal with your golf cart and stay away from steep hills that will put added stress on your vehicle. If you do need to traverse a steep incline, do it slowly.
6. Cold Weather is a Battery Killer
Problem
Cold weather is a battery killer for golf cart and car batteries alike. Even electronics such as cell phones and laptops die faster in cold weather than they do in warm weather.If you don’t notice your state of charge lowering quickly then you run the chance of over-discharging your batteries and doing permanent damage.
Remedy
Regularly using your golf cart and charging the batteries as needed will help slow the problem of cold weather killing your batteries, but it won’t eliminate it completely. The only way to keep your batteries healthy in cold weather is to store them in a warm environment such as a heated garage or shop.
7. It Might not be the Battery at All
Problem
Something that people run into more than they’d like to admit is that their battery isn’t to blame at all. Rather, the charger they’re using isn’t working properly or isn’t charging the battery all the way or at all. So, while they think that their battery is dying too quickly, the real problem lies with a faulty charger.
Remedy
To determine if your charger is to blame, test the voltage load of your battery before and after hooking it up to your charger. If the charge doesn’t increase as much as it should, then you likely need a new charger instead of a new battery.Here is our favorite charger with customizable parameters for many types of batteries.
8. Problems in the Fuel Line
Problem
I realize that electric golf carts don’t have fuel lines, but gas golf carts do. Gas golf carts also have a battery just like the battery on your gas car does. A common issue with gas golf carts is that vapor gets into the fuel line, causing the cart not to start as easy putting more strain on the battery. This will cause the battery to die faster than it otherwise should.
Remedy
Solving this problem is a little more in-depth, but still possible if you want to perform the repair yourself. All you need to do is purchase the appropriate fuel line cleaner, locate the fuel line, disconnect it and clean the line. Once this is done, reconnect the fuel line and resume charging and using your battery like normal.
9. Your Terminal has Loose Contacts
Problem
On your golf cart batteries, you’ll notice a terminal with wires connecting the battery to the rest of the cart. If these terminals loosen or get corroded, they often stop charging your battery the way they should.
Remedy
This is a fairly easy fix as all you have to do with loose contacts is tighten the screws connecting them to the terminals. If you notice that the contacts or terminals are corroded, use a rough bristled brush to scrub them clean. Make sure to detach them for the scrubbing process in order to ensure maximum effect. Reconnect them when they’re clean and the should be as good as new.
10. You’re Losing Power When the Cart Isn’t Running
Problem
The batteries on your golf cart are designed to hold their charge while the power is turned off and they’re not in use. However, there might be an issue in the speed controller or another component of the golf cart that’s causing your battery to draw power when it’s not in use.Many batteries can lose up to 1% of charge per day.
Remedy
In order to fix this problem, you need to figure out where the problem is occurring. To do this, you’ll need a voltmeter. Touch one prong of the voltmeter to your battery terminal and the other end to different parts of your speed controller. Voltmeters can be tricky to use but if you’re comfortable using one and reading the results, then it’s something you can do on your own. Otherwise, it might be necessary to take your cart to a mechanic and have them check the problem out.
Once you know what part of the golf cart is draining the battery, you can repair or replace the part at fault. After the problem is repaired, your battery life should stop draining when the power is off and it should hold a charge like normal.
