Golf Cart Battery Charger

The golf cart battery charger may or may not be the problem when your deep cycle batteries won't take a charge.

There are two main types of battery chargers for electric golf carts:

1.  Automatic for the newer carts

2. Non-Automatic for older carts

Older chargers usually have an ON/OFF/Timer knob.  The knob allows you to manually turn the charger ON or OFF and to set the number of hours for the charger to stay on.

Batteries Won't Take A Charge
Is it the Batteries or the Charger?

Our reliable Club Car battery charger is 20 years old and still going strong. Maintaining an electric golf cart can be quite economical - such is the case with battery chargers. There is not much that goes wrong with them.

Most older golf cart battery chargers are 36 volt systems and will turn on and try to charge any 36 volt battery pack - no matter how low the battery voltage.  The newer chargers use a different system - a solid state circuit board - which means it has to detect a certain amount of voltage from the battery pack to start charging.

If your batteries have completely discharged the battery charger will not turn on. Often new golf cart owners believe the problem to be the golf cart charger - when in fact it's the depleted batteries.

The ammeter gauge on the front dash shows the number of amperes being provided to the battery pack.

According to Jack Triolo from Golf Cart Catalog, "Any 36 volt battery charger should initially start by providing at least 15+ amps to the batteries. The amps may drop down very quickly if the batteries are fully charged but the ammeter should show at least 15 amps to start off. If you know that the batteries need charging and the ammeter will not go above 15 amps, then you probably have a faulty charger and it must be repaired." 

Most often when batteries won't charge the problem is the batteries.  But there are a few things that can cause charger failure.  Here are the main components:

1.  ON/OFF/TIMER Switch

2.  Two diodes mounted onto a flat aluminum plate

3.  A Capacitor

4.  A transformer

5.  Fuses

6.  An ammeter

7. A DC plug

The three most common causes of problems with a golf cart battery charger have to do with the timer units, diodes and bad DC plugs.

If you think you may be having trouble with your deep cycle battery charger, you can bring it in to your local golf cart shop and have it tested. Usually the charger can be repaired rather than replaced. That's what we did with our 30 year old Club Car that wasn't charging.  The DC cord and plug needed to be replaced.  Cost about $100 and the charger was back to working again.  If you want to replace it yourself you can find  at Amazon for about half that here:

Golf Cart Charger Cords with Plugs

Purchasing a Golf Cart Battery Charger

A golf cart battery charger re-charges your golf cart batteries - after every use.  Selecting the type of golf cart charger is based on the total number of volts your battery pack has. A 36V golf cart requires a 36 volt charger, and a 48V golf cart requires a 48 volt charger.

The voltage from the charger needs to match with the voltage of the batteries.

Normally, if you are purchasing a new or used golf cart, the golf cart charger is often part of the deal. But if it is not, and you need to buy a deep cycle battery charger here are a couple of things you should know.

1. The make, model and year of your golf cart.

Golf cart battery chargers are specific to the make of the cart.

Meaning you must buy a Yamaha golf cart battery charger if you have a Yamaha golf cart.

Also there are different chargers depending on the year the cart was made.

2. The battery voltage 

The golf cart battery charger needs to match the same voltage as your golf cart. If you have a 36-volt golf cart, you need a 36-volt charger. If you have a 48-volt golf cart, you need a 48-volt charger. 

You can tell if your golf cart is 36V or 48V by the number of cells or holes it has.  Each cell is equal to 2 volts. Multiply the number of holes by 2; You see 4 cells in this pictured golf cart battery battery yo; 4X2=8. Multiply 8 by the number of batteries, which is 6 and that equals 48.

3. The amount of use of the golf cart.

These battery chargers come in 12v, 20v and 25v.

If the cart is used very minimally for short periods of time - like a run up to the mailbox each day then the 12 v will suffice.

For those who use it for 18 holes of golf then a 20v is recommended. This is by far the most common size charger.

However there is a 25v battery charger for heavier and long, term daily use. If you think you may be having trouble with your charger, you can bring it in to your local golf cart shop and have it tested. Usually the charger can be repaired rather than replaced.

4.  The plug in type

Here are two types of plug ins - crow food and round and crow foot. 

New battery chargers can be found at your local golf cart dealer or on line at Amazon.

Club Car Battery Chargers

Club Car Golf Cart Chargers

EZGO Golf Cart Chargers

EZ Go Golf Cart Chargers

Yamaha Golf Cart Battery Chargers

• An intelligent battery charger helps prolong the life of your batteries and it can have them charged up in a matter of hours or simply overnight

Yamaha Golf Cart Battery Chargers

Correct Golf Cart Battery Charging

You might think that all you have to do is plug in your cart when the battery indicator light is low and that's all you need to know.

Well if you want to extend the life of your golf cart batteries there are some tips and practices that can help you do just that.

Click here to learn more about Charging Deep Cycle Batteries correctly. 

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