ajbrown
12-12-2011, 11:18 AM
I can imagine what folks think as they read this: “Who the heck cares about your new batteries”..... I hear you, but if I can just reach one or two people and extend the life of one pack it would be worth it. I am kidding of course, but you never know there may be some info of value for folks new to sparky carts. This thread will be relatively short as the scope is to share my experience breaking the pack in to see if claims of a stronger pack after break in are really true. Here is one example of a break in procedure from a site I trust for information:
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Battery_Break-in_Methods.html
I am most interested in this line from the document: “by the 12th cycle you will notice a difference in power, speed, and run-time”. A statement like that is why I started the thread. I do not want to notice, I want to document and share. The word notice is very subjective. This question of “battery break-in” has been asked of Trojan Battery and here is what they said when asked if the break in procedure was needed:
This is not necessary. The first step performed on newly purchased batteries is an equalize charge. This is called a refreshening charge. After that, use the batteries normally.
If you have additional comments or questions, please contact me at the information below.
Sincerely,
James M. xxxxxxxxxx
Technical Support Engineer
Trojan Battery Company
There you have it, two recommendations from two camps that are completely opposite. The two camps being battery manufacturer versus cart builders and mechanics. I am going to follow the break in procedure based on the recommendation of many golf cart professionals. Certainly it cannot do any harm, and I can share what I see.
Caveat reader: Keep in mind my experience on golf carts is marinating my two electric club cars and reading. Marinating? My spell checker did that, so I left it as it made me :1rotfl:. The word should have been maintaining. Anyway, my point is I am not a professional and none of this should be taken as advice, I am simply documenting my experience during this break in period.
My new set consists of 6 – 8 volt Trojan T890 batteries. I know, I know, only six? I offered to convert the cart to 8 – 6 volt batteries for extended range, but my lovely wife made the decision we did not need that. There is no doubt she envisioned cart parts spewed all over the garage and me turning a two week job into 4 months. After thirty years of marriage she is one wise woman!
Why did I buy Trojan? I read good things about Crown and US Battery and know that some very good professionals swear by them. All of our carts have had Trojan and have performed well for us, so I went with what I know this time.
Why did I buy T890s? The “standard” Trojan 8 volt battery used in TV is the T875. The cost including installation and taxes of the T875 is $625.40. The cost for the same job using T890s is $740.94. That is a substantial uptick in cost, $115.54 or 18%. I honestly cannot tell you the added cost will be worth it and I will not have any way to prove it is worth it in the future. I have no test bed to compare T875 versus T890, so any information would just be my opinion and subjective.
What I can tell you is that the 20 hour amp hour rating for the T890 is 190 versus 170 for the T875. Amp hours (AH) is the true measure of how far you can drive on a charge. The higher the number, the further you can go. Keep in mind folks that have 8 – 6 volt batteries likely use the Trojan T105 and the AH on a T105 is 225 (swweeeeeet). I would guess I could see an extra 4 - 5 miles with the T890s versus the T875. More importantly. I hope that I will get a bit more life from the T890s. Depth of discharge can affect the life of a battery, the deeper the discharge the fewer the life cycles. There is no doubt the State Of Charge on a pack of T890s will be higher than a pack of T875 after driving the same distance. In the end my decision was based on sound reasoning along the lines: “For crying out loud it is only $116 dollars, after a few years you will not remember that” :laugh:.
In this test I will document the starting voltages before the ride and then I will drive the pack down to about 49.75 volts (75% SOC). At the end of the ride I will let the cart sit for 15 minutes, document the voltage and charge for a future test.
The first thing to notice from the link above is that new batteries are not fully charged. Mine were installed yesterday at before charging I took some voltages:
Pack 49.0 (60%)
Battery 1 8.26 (70%)
Battery 2 8.25 (70%)
Battery 3 8.24 (70%)
Battery 4 8.07 (50%)
Battery 5 8.18 (60%)
Battery 6 8.25 (70%)
I am not entirely thrilled with the pack voltages I see above. To me these batteries have been on the shelf for a while. I will monitor how they come up to speed in the first few cycles. I am most concerned with battery number four.
For folks less familiar with battery voltages and SOC (state of charge), refer to the chart at the bottom of this page:
http://www.trojanbattery.com/BatteryMaintenance/Testing.aspx
It is from this chart that I get the percentage numbers for my pack. I do everything in my power to never let my pack get below 50% SOC. As you can see from my numbers above, I have one battery that has been on a shelf at 50% SOC. Unclear the affect on its life and I will monitor closely.
It also points out how important it is to have a multi meter and understand a bit about your pack. It provides a great baseline for the future to see how the pack is aging.
Will see what happens over the next 2 - 3 weeks....
Alan
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Battery_Break-in_Methods.html
I am most interested in this line from the document: “by the 12th cycle you will notice a difference in power, speed, and run-time”. A statement like that is why I started the thread. I do not want to notice, I want to document and share. The word notice is very subjective. This question of “battery break-in” has been asked of Trojan Battery and here is what they said when asked if the break in procedure was needed:
This is not necessary. The first step performed on newly purchased batteries is an equalize charge. This is called a refreshening charge. After that, use the batteries normally.
If you have additional comments or questions, please contact me at the information below.
Sincerely,
James M. xxxxxxxxxx
Technical Support Engineer
Trojan Battery Company
There you have it, two recommendations from two camps that are completely opposite. The two camps being battery manufacturer versus cart builders and mechanics. I am going to follow the break in procedure based on the recommendation of many golf cart professionals. Certainly it cannot do any harm, and I can share what I see.
Caveat reader: Keep in mind my experience on golf carts is marinating my two electric club cars and reading. Marinating? My spell checker did that, so I left it as it made me :1rotfl:. The word should have been maintaining. Anyway, my point is I am not a professional and none of this should be taken as advice, I am simply documenting my experience during this break in period.
My new set consists of 6 – 8 volt Trojan T890 batteries. I know, I know, only six? I offered to convert the cart to 8 – 6 volt batteries for extended range, but my lovely wife made the decision we did not need that. There is no doubt she envisioned cart parts spewed all over the garage and me turning a two week job into 4 months. After thirty years of marriage she is one wise woman!
Why did I buy Trojan? I read good things about Crown and US Battery and know that some very good professionals swear by them. All of our carts have had Trojan and have performed well for us, so I went with what I know this time.
Why did I buy T890s? The “standard” Trojan 8 volt battery used in TV is the T875. The cost including installation and taxes of the T875 is $625.40. The cost for the same job using T890s is $740.94. That is a substantial uptick in cost, $115.54 or 18%. I honestly cannot tell you the added cost will be worth it and I will not have any way to prove it is worth it in the future. I have no test bed to compare T875 versus T890, so any information would just be my opinion and subjective.
What I can tell you is that the 20 hour amp hour rating for the T890 is 190 versus 170 for the T875. Amp hours (AH) is the true measure of how far you can drive on a charge. The higher the number, the further you can go. Keep in mind folks that have 8 – 6 volt batteries likely use the Trojan T105 and the AH on a T105 is 225 (swweeeeeet). I would guess I could see an extra 4 - 5 miles with the T890s versus the T875. More importantly. I hope that I will get a bit more life from the T890s. Depth of discharge can affect the life of a battery, the deeper the discharge the fewer the life cycles. There is no doubt the State Of Charge on a pack of T890s will be higher than a pack of T875 after driving the same distance. In the end my decision was based on sound reasoning along the lines: “For crying out loud it is only $116 dollars, after a few years you will not remember that” :laugh:.
In this test I will document the starting voltages before the ride and then I will drive the pack down to about 49.75 volts (75% SOC). At the end of the ride I will let the cart sit for 15 minutes, document the voltage and charge for a future test.
The first thing to notice from the link above is that new batteries are not fully charged. Mine were installed yesterday at before charging I took some voltages:
Pack 49.0 (60%)
Battery 1 8.26 (70%)
Battery 2 8.25 (70%)
Battery 3 8.24 (70%)
Battery 4 8.07 (50%)
Battery 5 8.18 (60%)
Battery 6 8.25 (70%)
I am not entirely thrilled with the pack voltages I see above. To me these batteries have been on the shelf for a while. I will monitor how they come up to speed in the first few cycles. I am most concerned with battery number four.
For folks less familiar with battery voltages and SOC (state of charge), refer to the chart at the bottom of this page:
http://www.trojanbattery.com/BatteryMaintenance/Testing.aspx
It is from this chart that I get the percentage numbers for my pack. I do everything in my power to never let my pack get below 50% SOC. As you can see from my numbers above, I have one battery that has been on a shelf at 50% SOC. Unclear the affect on its life and I will monitor closely.
It also points out how important it is to have a multi meter and understand a bit about your pack. It provides a great baseline for the future to see how the pack is aging.
Will see what happens over the next 2 - 3 weeks....
Alan