How to Charge Dead 8 Volt Golf Cart Batteries (10 Tips)
Batteries drive the world, even for golf carts. Their batteries do go dead from time to time so it is a good idea to check them regularly to make sure they have some power. You never know when you need to use those little 8 volt batteries. They do come in handy.
How to Charge Dead 8 Volt Golf Cart Batteries: One way to recharge dead golf cart batteries is to use a smaller 6 volt battery charger. Once you get enough power in them, you should be able to hook up the golf cart charger and take the batteries the rest of the way.
To learn all about recharging 8-volt golf cart batteries, just continue to read our article. It explores the world of golf cart batteries so you know what to do in similar situations.
Charging 8-Volt Batteries 101
- Tip #1: If you use a 12-volt charger for one battery, make sure to keep your eye on both. This is not the best way to recharge 8-volt batteries
- Tip #2: if you have 3 batteries to charge, take 2 12 volt battery chargers and hook the batteries up in a series. This will get you the power you need to get those batteries nice and charged
Can you Charge an 8-volt Battery
As you have already read, yes it is possible for you to charge up an 8 volt battery. There are a variety of ways this can be done. Some people advise against using a 12-volt battery charger on a single 8 volt battery. The risks involved may damage your charger during the process.
One of the tricks of the trade if you do use a single battery is to watch the amperage. If the battery pulls too much, you will have to reduce the charger’s output. What you have to also watch out for is that the charger won’t taper off when charging your 8-volt battery
When that happens, the battery may out-gas a lot and get very hot. You will need to shut the charger off before it reaches that point.
- Tip #3: you can connect the 12-volt charger across the 48-volt battery bank and produce enough power to let the regular golf cart charger kick in. When it does, disconnect the charge right away.
Will a 6-volt Charger Charge an 8-volt Battery?
It is recommended that you do not use a 6-volt battery charger to charge an 8-volt battery. The thinking behind this is that the process will actually deprive the battery of any power it may have left.
The other key to charging the 8-volt battery is that the voltage of the charger must match the voltage of the battery. That is why some people say to put the batteries in a series so that your 12 volt battery chargers can bring power to those dead batteries.
While some people may have had limited success with using a 6-volt battery charger, the charger normally shuts down too soon. If it does this too you, hook the battery up to the golf cart charger to see if enough power got inside and kicks the charger into action.
- Tip #4: You only need about a 25 to 30 minute charge time to see if enough power has entered the battery or batteries to switch to the normal golf cart charger and go the rest of the way
Can you Charge 8-volt Battery with 6-Volt Charger
Some people do claim that they have had some success with this, the answer to the question is no. As stated earlier, you need the charger to match the voltage on the battery.
That is why one of our tips talks about placing 3 8 volt batteries in a series and using 2 12 volt chargers to handle the recharge. 3 times 8 equals 24 and 2 times 2 equals 24 so the voltages match and you should be successful.
It may be tempting to use the 6-volt charger but you are only asking for trouble. The charger should shut down long before enough power enters the battery. Now if you had 4 6 volt battery chargers and only 3 batteries to charge, then you may find some success.
The voltages match but the process may take a little while to completely charge the 3 batteries. You should keep your eye on the charging process to make sure nothing goes wrong
- Tip #5: to know how many volts your battery has, simply count the number of cells. Each cell equals 2 volts. So if yo have 4 cells then you have an 8 volt battery.
How to Charge 8-volt Batteries in a Golf Cart
The simplest way is to connect the proper charger to the corresponding battery post and then turn the charger on. There is no need to remove the batteries and you can do this one at a time or set of a series if the charger is powerful enough.
This system is much like recharging your car’s battery when it has lost its power. When enough power has been received by the batteries it should be possible to start the golf cart charger and let it do the rest of the work.
If you do that. Make sure to disconnect your external charger so you do not overcharge your batteries or cause some damage to them. Now the problem that may arise is that the batteries may have gone bad.
The test to make sure they are good is simple. Use a voltmeter to test each battery individually. If the batteries are close to new, you may be able to change only the one bad battery. If not, then you may have to replace all the batteries in your golf cart.
That may run you close to $1,000 to fix.
- Tip #6: to check the age of your batteries, you need to look on the sticker placed on them. If you read a A-7 then that means the battery was made in January 2017. If you read B-9 then the battery was made in February 2019. Don’t just take anyone’s word for the age of the battery
How to Charge 8-volt Batteries Hooked in Series
This is also not a complicated procedure. It may take a little time to set and you should be careful to watch what you are doing, you do not want to connect the wire to the wrong battery terminal.
To do two batteries at one time, you need to connect the positive wire from the charger to the positive battery terminal on the first battery. The negative terminal on the first battery is then attached to the positive of the second battery.
Then the negative terminal of the second battery connect to the negative wire from the charger. If you need to hook up more than two batteries, the positive to negative connections must be made from terminal to terminal like you would do a two battery series.
In other words the negative terminal would from the preceding battery hooks to the positive terminal on the following battery and on it goes till you have to connect to the charger again.
- Tip #7: Not all golf carts are made the same. Some will come with 8-volt batteries and others will come with 6-volt units. Do not assume which one your gold cart has. Double-check before you start your charging process or series set up. Then double-check to see if you have the right charger to handle the voltage required.
Charging 3 8 Volt Batteries in Series
This is not that difficult to do either. If you follow the instructions in the previous section, you will see that the negative post of the first battery connects to the positive post of the second. Then the negative post on the second connects to the positive post on the third.
With the third negative post, you should reconnect to the charger’s negative wire. The four battery set up is going to be a little different than this. The first two batteries attach to each other through their positive posts.
Then their negative terminals are hooked to the next two batteries’ positive posts, one to each. After that, you need to connect the second pair of batteries together by their negative terminals.
The charger’s positive wire goes to the positive post on the first set of batteries and its negative wire goes to the negative terminals on the second pair. Here is a link to a good website that has diagrams to follow and a variety of options you can use
- Tip #8: You may not get a lot of mileage out of your golf cart’s batteries on a single charge. 6 6-volt batteries get you roughly 22 miles; 6 8-volt batteries may only get you 19 miles; 4 12-volt batteries should only get you about 12 miles. Be prepared to use your golf cart charger frequently to stay powered
How Long to Charge an 8-volt Battery?
The time it takes to charge an 8-volt battery is relative. It will depend on the power output of the charger. For example, if you have a 2400 mah battery and your charger only puts out about 500 mah then you divide 2400 by 500. The answer is 4.8 hours to charge your battery.
The key, of course, is not to overcharge your batteries. You shouldn’t leave them charging overnight unless you have a smart charger which can detect when the battery is full power and shuts itself down.
Now if you do not have a digital readout on your battery charger, the rule of thumb is as follows. Charge your battery until the battery becomes warm. Once that happens you can disconnect the battery and start your motor.
The good news is that most modern battery chargers do not take a long time to charge a battery. Maximum time may be 6 hours or less, depending.
- Tip #9: When you use your golf cart charger, just plug it in when the power gets low. These chargers will shut off once the batteries are at full power. If the charge time takes between 20 to 24 hours to power the batteries call your golf cart dealer or repairman to see what the problem is
How Many Volts Should a Fully Charged 8-volt Battery Have?
If you said 8, you would be incorrect. For an 8-volt battery to be fully charged, you need to have 9.2 volts inside it. This is not the only discrepancy when it comes to total volts needed in a battery.
The 12-volt battery needs 13.8 volts to be fully charged. Now some 8-volt battery makers claim that their model only needs to have 8.49 volts to reach full charge state.
There is no set reasoning fr this except that the extra voltage protects against any surface voltage runoff.
- Tip #10: You need to plug your golf cart in after every use. Even if you only drove a mile or less. You can damage your batteries if you do not do this
Some Final Words
Regular maintenance checks should help you avoid having a dead 8 volt battery. But if they do occur, do not use a 6-volt battery charger because the voltages need t match/ Also, while some people do it, try to avoid using a 12-volt battery charger on a single 8-volt battery. Try to match the voltages up if you can.
Also, learn how to do a series charge as this technique will help you match up voltages and get your golf cart running faster. Then when you have finished using make sure to your golf cart plug it in. If you do not plug it in after every use, you will damage your batteries and incur an expensive repair cost.
