Quote:
Originally Posted by Bay Kid
Dad is now back to leaning towards a Yamaha gas cart.... He is going drive me crazier! At least he is still here driving me!!!!
I am still not sure.
Mom wants quiet. Electric is the best way to go for quiet. I worry 2-3 years down the road about the value of electric. Gas is so much easier to maintain especially with us gone 1/2 year. So confusing!
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Your concerns are accurate. We visited Mallory Country Club this afternoon for dinner and parked in the cart parking lot to the right of the entrance.
We could not believe that every single parking space had rust stains from battery acid that had dripped from electric carts parked there. Battery acid and hydrogen gas sure doesn't smell too good..
Visit Mallory and check it out for yourself and see if you want those kinds of stains on your garage floor and your concrete driveway if you should park your cart outside...and maybe from just driving across the driveway.
Exploding batteries[edit]
Any lead-acid battery system when overcharged (>14.34 V) will produce hydrogen gas (gassing voltage) by electrolysis of water. If the rate of overcharge is small, the vents of each cell allow the dissipation of the gas. However, on severe overcharge or if ventilation is inadequate, or the battery is faulty, a flammable concentration of hydrogen may remain in the cell or in the battery enclosure. An internal spark can cause a hydrogen and oxygen explosion, which will damage the battery and its surroundings and which will disperse acid into the surroundings. Anyone close to the battery may be injured.
Sometimes the ends of a battery will be severely swollen, and when accompanied by the case being too hot to touch, this usually indicates a malfunction in the charging system of the car. Reversing the positive and negative leads will damage the battery. When severely overcharged, a lead-acid battery produces high levels of hydrogen and the venting system built into the battery cannot handle the high level of gas, so the pressure builds inside the battery, resulting in the swollen ends. An unregulated alternator can quickly ruin a battery by excessive voltage. A swollen, hot battery is dangerous.
Another potential cause of explosion is when the battery terminals are short-circuited via a very low resistance path (like a wrench or other tool dropped or lying across the terminals). Apart from the sparks which usually occur in a short circuit, heating due to the internal resistance of the battery can cause the electrolyte to boil, also leading to explosion due to buildup of water vapor pressure (unrelated to electrolysis).