battery water auto-fill system - advice needed

[Arctic Fox]

Every time I connect the reservoir to the system, the wheel spins for quite a long time

When I last charged the batteries there was white powder on the garage floor afterwards

I took off one of the filler caps and the water level is almost to the top of the battery, so it seems that the system is over-filling, then spilling out when charging

Every filler cap has a white "button" on it - I assume these indicate fill level, but how easy is it to tell from these when the batteries need a top-up? Does the white bit disappear, and from what angle do you have to view them?

Thank you

[Altavia]

Do you only fill after fully charging the batteries?

Otherwise, could be a sign of a bad battery (s).

[KennyP]

The systems are notorious for over filling, under filling, or not filling at all. The system only knows how to fill the batteries one way, all the way full. Crazy thing is, you should never fill it all the way to the high level. My recommendation, when the wheel starts to slow, pull it off. I would also recommend, pulling the system off and checking it to make sure the floats are working correctly. Believe it or not, no good golf car tech would recommend the system. We do realize, that there are some applications it is necessary, but in a standard application we would not.

[Topspinmo]

When I brought electric cart came with house still have spot on garage floor From previous owner over filling batteries. after cleaning up cart and garage floor While I owned it I only filled batteries above plates now were near all way to top fixed the problem.

[Arctic Fox]

The systems are notorious for over filling, under filling, or not filling at all. The system only knows how to fill the batteries one way, all the way full. Crazy thing is, you should never fill it all the way to the high level. My recommendation, when the wheel starts to slow, pull it off. I would also recommend, pulling the system off and checking it to make sure the floats are working correctly. Believe it or not, no good golf car tech would recommend the system. We do realize, that there are some applications it is necessary, but in a standard application we would not.

The spillage is under the two batteries at the start of the filler line so they are the two most likely to be overfilled first. It could well be the floats not working, or just a design fault.

It is a good idea in theory - speeds up the topping-up process considerably - but I would like to be able to use the white caps to determine when water is needed, but don't know exactly how to interpret them. Any help would be appreciated. Is it obvious, when standing by the cart, when they have disappeared, or do I need to squat down to the level of the top of the batteries?

[Arctic Fox]

When I brought electric cart came with house still have spot on garage floor From previous owner over filling batteries. after cleaning up cart and garage floor While I owned it I only filled batteries above plates now were near all way to top fixed the problem.

Yes, I've seen "quarter to half inch above plates" recommended, so that's how I do Mrs Fox's cart (manually) and that never has a spillage.

[Altavia]

The spillage is under the two batteries at the start of the filler line so they are the two most likely to be overfilled first. It could well be the floats not working, or just a design fault.

It is a good idea in theory - speeds up the topping-up process considerably - but I would like to be able to use the white caps to determine when water is needed, but don't know exactly how to interpret them. Any help would be appreciated. Is it obvious, when standing by the cart, when they have disappeared, or do I need to squat down to the level of the top of the batteries?

Based on the advice here to stop a "quarter to half inch above plates", I'd try removing the filler from one battery and fill such that water in the battery furthest from the fill point is just above the plates?

Re-install the filler, look and remember where the white caps are.

Stop filling when they reach that level for future fill cycles.

It probably will take some experimentation to optimize this.

[Arctic Fox]

Based on the advice here to stop a "quarter to half inch above plates", I'd try removing the filler from one battery and fill such that water in the battery furthest from the fill point is just above the plates? Re-install the filler, look and remember where the white caps are.

Excellent idea, Altavia.

I blame the cold weather for not having thought of that myself :-)

[Altavia]

Excellent idea, Altavia.

I blame the cold weather for not having thought of that myself :-)

Presume you know to only fill AFTER charging?

Learned that when I fought lead battery mess/filling for a couple of years. Gave up, sold it and bought a lithium cart ;-)

Let us know how's it goes and good luck!

[kincaiddb@embarqmail.com]

I took the auto fill system off our carts, because they are unreliable. I take the caps off and manually fill to I/2-3/4 inch above plates. My cart mech. said to fill then charge.

[Arctic Fox]

I took the auto fill system off our carts, because they are unreliable. I take the caps off and manually fill to I/2-3/4 inch above plates. My cart mech. said to fill then charge.

I've always read that they should be fully charged first - no idea why, but maybe charging changes the fluid level so I'd not be topping up to the correct point if I didn't charge first?

I do like the convenience of the system, so if I can gauge how the white indicators need to appear when a top-up is needed I'll carry on using it - plus it came with the cart, so I don't have the caps :-)

[KennyP]

I've always read that they should be fully charged first - no idea why, but maybe charging changes the fluid level so I'd not be topping up to the correct point if I didn't charge first?

I do like the convenience of the system, so if I can gauge how the white indicators need to appear when a top-up is needed I'll carry on using it - plus it came with the cart, so I don't have the caps :-)

You can tell if the white center part is down a bit, but maybe hard to tell even more if the float is stuck. The best way is still, by hand and not filling them to the high mark. Intentionally leave them low and youll never have an issue

[Arctic Fox]

Remove the filler from one battery cell and drain such that water in the battery is just above the plates. Re-install the filler, look where the white caps are.

After following the excellent suggestion above, the photo on the left is the view from the top (white cap on empty and full cells look very similar) and the side (white cap in cell at bottom of photo has dropped down, indicating that the cell needs a fill).