E-Z-GO Express S4 - Electric Owner Manual - Page 70

MAINTENANCE Read all of this manual to become thoroughly familiar with this vehicle. Pay particular attention to all Notices, Cautions, Warnings, and Dangers. ranty. Different manufacturers have different requirements. Consult the battery manufacturer or the manufacturer's representative for specific requirements. The second reason is to determine why a particular vehicle does not perform adequately. Performance problems may result in a vehicle that runs slowly or in a vehicle that is unable to operate for the time required. A new battery must mature before it will develop its maximum capacity. Maturing may take up to 100 charge/discharge cycles. After the maturing phase, the older a battery gets, the lower the capacity. The only way to determine the capacity of a battery is to perform a load test using a discharge machine following manufacturer's recommendations. A cost effective way to identify a poorly performing battery is to use a hydrometer to identify a battery in a set with a lower than normal specific gravity. Once the particular cell or cells that are the problem are identified, the suspect battery can be removed and replaced. At this point there is nothing that can be done to salvage the battery; however, the individual battery should be replaced with a good battery of the same brand, type and approximate age. 5 HYDROMETER A hydrometer is used to test the state of charge of a battery cell. This is performed by measuring the density of the electrolyte, which is accomplished by measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte. The greater the concentration of sulfuric acid, the more dense the electrolyte becomes. The higher the density, the higher the state of charge. CYLINDER BULB THERMOMETER Add to Float Reading FLOAT To prevent battery explosion that could result in severe personal injury or death, never insert a metal thermometer into a battery. Use a hydrometer with a built in thermometer that is designed for testing batteries. Specific gravity is the measurement of a liquid that is compared to a baseline. The baseline is water which is assigned a base number of 1.000. The concentration of sulfuric acid to water in a new golf car battery is 1.280 which means that the electrolyte weighs 1.280 times the weight of the same volume of water. A fully charged battery will test at 1.275 - 1.280 while a discharged battery will read in the 1.140 range. Subtract from Float Reading NOTICE Hydrometer WEIGHT Do not perform a hydrometer test on a battery that has just been watered. The battery must go through at least one charge and discharge cycle in order to permit the water to adequately mix with the electrolyte. The temperature of the electrolyte is important since the hydrometer reading must be corrected to 80° F (27° C). High quality hydrometers are equipped with an internal thermometer that will measure the temperature of the electrolyte and will include a conversion scale to correct the float reading. It is important to recognize that the electrolyte temperature is significantly different from the ambient temperature if the vehicle has been operated. 5 - 20