Electric Golf Carts

I've been offered a 2005 Yamaha 36V golf cart for $100. It's supposed to run and the batteries are supposed to be OK, but the charger has been stolen and one tire has a slow leak.

A quick search of Amazon doesn't show any 36V chargers for the Yamaha, even Yamaha doesn't appear to have them. Everything appears to be 48V now or else the EZ-Go 36V chargers with a different charger plug on them.

Also chargers appear to be about $300 for slow charge ones of about $600 for faster charging ones.

Batteries appear to be basically marine batteries at about $90 a piece and there are 6 of them.

So for those of you in the know, do you know of a place to buy a good charger for less than $300 with the proper plug (2 prong) or can I convert to 48V as simply as getting a 48V charger (they have the right plug type) and adding a couple of batteries to the circuit?

I'm presuming Costco will be my friend if I really need batteries too.

What else should I look out for?

The batteries should be 6 or 8 volt golf cart batteries. I have never seen one with marine batteries. 6 volt batteries will give you 36 volts, 8 volt batteries will give you 48.

For chargers, check ebay. You might also check with your local golf cart dealer. They will sometimes have used chargers for reasonable prices. Tell him you aren't looking for pretty, just working.

If you can't find a plug to fit your cart, you can change the cart side plug to match the charger. EZ Go and Club Car parts are readily available online.

The last set of batteries I picked up came from Sam's, Costco should be similar. Again, sometimes the dealers are cheaper than you would think. Get good batteries. Trojan, Crown, Deka, Johnson Controls, the cheap batteries aren't usually the cheapest in the long run. Sam's batteries used to be made by Johnson Controls. I don't know if that is still the case. Find out who makes Costco's before you buy junk batteries.

Can't answer the question, but dude, how'd you get offered a cart for $100? Even with those needs, that would be a steal here in the ATL. My oldest son is bugging the E36 M3 out of us for one, because we live in a golf cart community. They aren't cheap, even as projects. I'd snap that bad boy up, clean it, fix it, flip it.

I was considering picking this up, and it's $500... Golf cart project

First I'd look into why this Yamaha that is supposed to be 48v, and has a 48v charger plug, is running 36v. That doesn't sound like the start to good project.

Most batteries for these carts are normal 6v deep cycle marine/industrial style batteries, but 8v batteries are also out there. I wonder if the guy counted 6 batteries, assumed they were 6v and that's why he said 36v.

If each individual battery has 3 cell caps it's a 6v, if it has 4, it's 8v.

It's not supposed to be 48V, it seems that they changed to 48V at about that time.

The owner says the batteries are 12V, but the 6-8 volt batteries make more sense. i was thinking that until I could find a reasonably priced charger I could unhook the batteries and use my car charger to charge them individually, but I guess not, that is unless my charger does 6 volt charging. I'll have to check.

I don't think they are Marine batteries, but they are deep cycle batteries like Marine batteries. Interstate batteries is the only brand I saw on Amazon.

I had been told battery packs cost $800-$1,000 so I was prepared for that kind of hit so at $90 a pop I was pleasantly surprised and then completely bummed out over the price of the charger.

I hadn't thought about changing the plug on the cart to the EZ-Go, I had thought about trying to change the plug end on the charger.

I'm helping my son put a big brake kit and different sway bars on his Miata this morning (he really wants to beat my S2000 at the autocross) and then I'll be free to go to a cart shop and check things out.

I was thinking he'd have to pay me a couple of hundred dollars to make this a good deal with the prices I originally found, but maybe not. BTW $100-$300 seems to be the going rate for golf carts with bad battery packs around here. He says they batteries are still good but I'm just presuming they won't be

Find a used Prius battery pack, mix & match modules til you get 48v, charging will take a creative solution though.

In reply to carguy123:

To charge a 6V battey with a car charger, just charge two at a time in series. The 8 volt batteries would be a problem.

I bought "refurb" batteries from an Interstate batteries distributor. He would sell new batteries to dealerships and pick the old ones. I would run cycling tests on them and resell the ones that passed.

$20-$30 for a battery that would last 1-3 years. Sure.

My 36-volt EZGO uses 6 x 6volt batteries that cost about $80 from local golf cart suppliers (there's lots of those in Florida). Chargers for most brands are cheap on eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xyamaha+36v+golf+cart+charger.TRS0&_nkw=yamaha+36v+golf+cart+charger&_sacat=0

It's just a regulator and some wiring, basically. They're not fast, but mine will charge my cart overnight and a charge lasts about a week the way I use it.

For $100 don't hesitate. Golf cart stuff is pretty cheap and simple. The motors tend to be pretty durable, and the drivetrains are all but bulletproof. Only thing mine has ever broken are the splined rear brake drums (which are also the drive hubs), which are basically the designed-in weak point of the drivetrains.

Just buy it, $100 for a 12 year old golf cart that hasn't caught fire is a great deal, you can probably part it out for a lot more than that.

In a pinch couldn't you charge the batteries individually (or in smaller series circuits, e.g. 8x3=24 volts) with a automotive charger? Deep cycles are pretty tough, just make sure there's enough water to cover the plates (but not much more, it goes up when charged) before messing with them.

Well he says he was hit by a drunk driver last night and he can't move his truck till the insurance company comes and sees it. The cart was in the bed of the truck.

We'll see if he's telling the truth because I saw where he responded to someone else's post this morning.

But if not him there will be another just like it or better. I see several a week here in Facebook Groups.