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By admin, August 27, 2010 12:53 pm

By: Matt Vallez

The LSV tax incentives that expired at the end of 2009 seam like déjà vu, a return to the California ZEV mandate that inspired the NEV’S of the late 90’S. The State of California’s zero-emission vehicles mandate and later compromise with the big three American auto companies brought us vehicles like the Ford “Think”, Chrysler “GEM” and the General Motors “EV1 sports coup”. The majority of these vehicles were purposely built to meet the letter of the law of California Air Resource Boards zero emissions laws.  Many were leased and later crushed, as the manufactures only built them as a stopgap measure that would allow them to continue to sell there other products: gas powered automobiles. These vehicles were just a means to an end that did not have anything to do with promoting electric vehicles.

The similarity in both cases was the meteoric rise in popularity of electric vehicles that are capable of replacing a gas powered automobile. Although the ZEV Mandate was ultimately a failure for electric vehicles in California it has promoted the NEV and its close relative the LSV as a viable replacement for an automobile in other markets.

Almost ten years later, the federal and state tax incentives that expired at the end of 2009 created a mini boom in the LSV market again, although this time it was nationwide. The LSV market was on fire in 2009. Names like Fairplay, Columbia, Star, Tomberlin, and Stealth were among the early adopters, with Club Car and EZGO quickly behind. All benefited from both the popularity of the LSV and a nearly $6,000 federal tax credit incentive, not to mention some equally generous state tax credits as well. All these incentives have once again driven the LSV market to new heights.

This time, there were no two year leases, or crushing of vehicles as they came off lease because they were considered commercial albatross. What we have is a vehicle distinction that was created by tax incentives; only this distinction is a vehicle niche that is in high demand. People want these LSV cars. They have proved that by the numbers of units they bought in 2009. Are they buying LSV’S to replace cars with them or as an extra vehicle? No one knows the answer for sure. The way the media attacked the tax incentive, you would think it will not be something that will be brought back.

The problem that the LSV faces going forward will be a lack of incentives for the vehicles. The most obvious one is the tax incentive has gone from $6,000 plus state incentives to less than a thousand, unless solar is part of the deal. The next problem is the less obvious. Local law enforcement does not distinguish between a LSV and NEV or modified golf car. If it is legal for any of these, most local law enforcement will permit all of them on the road. Then there is the premium that you pay for a LSV that is properly equipped with all the correct safety gear from the factory. Why pay the premium if there are no incentives, either positive like tax credits or negative incentives like law enforcement requiring all the correct safety gear to have access to the roads…

The golf car industry and all manufactures of golf car type vehicles would greatly benefit from any program that promotes the use of LSV’S instead of automobiles. This would finally give the industry some of the economies of scale that the auto industry has enjoyed. If all parties involved could do what so many other industries do and lobby Washington to produce legislation creating incentives similar to those in 2009, everyone would benefit. Without some better incentives positive or negative, like law enforcement that makes a distinction and actually requires the higher level of safety features that are part of today’s LSV’S, the LSV will not repeat its 2009 pace. Yes, the LSV is here to stay, and many automobiles will be replaced by LSV’S every year, but incentives are needed to help return to the frenzied buying and popularity that occurred at the end of 2009. Just a thought.

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By admin, June 21, 2010 4:38 pm

By: Matt Vallez

Upon returning to the garage where his golf car has been stored for several months, the owner plugs in his automatic charger and finds it will not come on.  He did not feel comfortable leaving it plugged in for the entire off season, but now the battery charger won’t come on. This is one of the most common problems with electric golf cars left sitting for several months without a charger connected to them. They appear to be dead; next a technician is called to check it out. The typical technician will check the car over and tell customers the batteries or the charger is the problem, transport the car back to the shop where they have a method of charging batteries that are under the critical 80% discharge level (70% nominal voltage level), and or checking the charger.

There are still many automatic chargers in use today that will not come on until there is at least 70% nominal charge voltage in the battery pack. That is how they were designed; this keeps them from working if there are major issues within the system. That is why they need to have a 70% nominal charge voltage to start; it was a designed safety feature. The nominal pack voltage of a 36 volt system fully charged is around 38 volts. A 48 volt battery pack fully charged would be around 52 volts. On the low end 70% (voltage) of a 36 volt pack would be close to 25 volts and a 48 volt pack at 70% (voltage) would be close to 33 volts.

The good news is that in the last five years charger technology has improved to the point where most automatic chargers only need to detect one or two volts to start a charge cycle. Also many chargers are now built with multiple fail-safe systems. Now, if the relay fails the charger will not continue to run until unplugged as some older chargers did. The problem with wet cell lead acid batteries is they discharge at a rate of 4% per week. In higher temperatures the discharge rate is even quicker. That means 16% per month. If you do the math it will only take two months and you are below the 70% nominal voltage. Newer charger technology also allows maintenance charging for storage.

I will give you a couple of solutions to fix this problem, in order of expense. One, you can add a relay by-pass switch to an existing automatic charger (Ferro-resonant only) see following diagram

Locate timer board relay on the main PC  board. Splice into the normally open contact wire and the common terminal wire. Connect each wire to a toggle switch or push pull switch you will mount on the charger case. Plug the charger into the car and wall AC plug. Flip the toggle switch on and this will now by-pass the relay contacts. Allow charging to occur for 1 to 2 hours or more. Turn switch off and then unplug DC cord and plug back in. The timer board should now time out as normal.

Two, you can take an existing manual (timer) charger 36 or 48 it makes no difference. Put a SB50 amp DC plug on the end. This will allow you to use it with any Nivel modular DC cords we offer to fit any current DC receptacle, and a lot of old ones also. Connect the manual charger using the appropriate Nivel DC cord set and let the pack charge 2 or 3 hours which will allow pack voltage to rise to a level where the automatic timer will accept. Before completing the charge cycle, check battery cell water level and you should be good to go. A general rule of thumb is to charge the batteries every 30 to 45 days to prevent over discharging to start with. The final option is to switch to AGM batteries which have a slower self discharge rate of 1% per month. This way the car could sit for many months before needing additional help charging.

In any case I believe a good idea is to take an old manual charger and have it ready to use in these situations. A technician can put the manual charger on the car, go to lunch or another call and circle back to check on the progress. Most of the time this is all that is needed. Good luck.

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By admin, April 20, 2010 8:51 pm

By: Matt Vallez

This article first appeared in September /October, 2004 issue of Golf Car News magazine, it has been updated, fact checked and reprinted for this issue.

Over the last few years dealers have been “beefing-up” their electric golf cars. It started with a motor or field coil change, then the controllers. Then the motors started to get even larger, and this meant larger, higher amp controllers. It soon became necessary to have 4-gauge wire to put it all together so nothing would melt.

All these modifications allow, or require higher amperage to flow through the power wiring to the primary electric components. The problem is that one part is often overlooked during this “beefing-up” process, the F&R switch.

I was speaking to the brains behind EV Parts Inc. Roderick Wilde and discussing the interesting things he has done with electric cars, mostly for racing purposes, (go to: www.suckamps.com) to come up with a hot topic for this months article. He and I both agreed that the F&R switch is the most overlooked part when “beefing-up” an electric car. Although this is not as exciting as modifying an electric postal jeep to reach speeds of over 100 MPH, it is a hot topic, literally.

Cars are often modified with the stock F&R switch unchanged except to connect a smaller gauge or thicker power wires to them. This is unacceptable and will only cause problems somewhere down the line. A mechanical F&R switch has a hard enough job as it is. It is always “on” so to speak; current is always passing through it. Your F&R switch is a circuit between the controller and your motor, and they must be capable of the same amp load. Once the switch is shifted from one direction to the other, it first passes through a natural point, so as not to arc before reversing the polarity to the field coils. Otherwise the load is constant.

These switches were designed to handle the stock amps, not the new level. Think about it, you just installed a 500-amp controller, this means that if required, your controller will send 500-amps to the motor, and that means 500 amps right through your F&R switch. The original system is capable of handling about a 350-amp peak, if that.

There are two good solutions that I know of. The simplest and least expensive is to modify a stock F&R switch to handle the load. The weakest part of these switches is the buss bars. On an E-Z-GO switch they are between the contacts on the cam, or part that moves.

These buss bars are thin and not made to carry large amps. Just replace them with some 3/16 inch thick by ½ inch wide copper bar and you’re off to the races.

The second alternative is more complex and more expensive. It requires replacing the mechanical switch with two, six terminal solenoids and a three-position control switch. For the solenoids, use two Nivel #1165 for 36-volt or Nivel #1130, both of these are rated at 200-amp continuous and 600 amp peak. This will work for most applications. As this is a more complicated set up I have made up a diagram to help.

Next time you are making a “beefed-up” electric car remember the F&R Switch. Because your “beefed-up” electric car is only as good as its weakest part, so make sure that’s not the F&R switch. Nivel now manufactures a line of F&R switches for high amp applications. Ask your Nivel salesperson for more information.

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By admin, April 1, 2010 8:56 pm

By: Matt Vallez

Battery geeks have long heralded the coming of new battery technology, to all including the golf car industry for years, 20 last I counted. During this whole time the wet cell lead-acid battery has been the mainstay of all golf car manufacturers, and is currently the only battery available by the big three golf car manufactures in the electric cars they make. That is about to change, there is a new challenger to the dominance of the wet cell lead acid battery and it is for real this time not just hype. The battery type is AGM or (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries, and they are being used in production golf car vehicles by some of the lesser known manufacturers.

These AGM batteries are sealed lead-acid batteries, also referred to as VRLA (Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid) batteries. They are similar to conventional wet lead-acid batteries however the electrolyte/acid is absorbed in a fiberglass material rather than in liquid form, hence the name glass-mat. Another key difference is that AGM batteries are sealed, so that the gasses produced during operations are recombined and remain within the battery rather than being released into the atmosphere. The sealed construction means there is no water loss in AGM batteries – therefore no maintenance.

This is the most important difference between the two types of batteries. AGM batteries are like wet lead-acid batteries on steroids without the water maintenance issues. All the water related problems for normal lead-acid batteries are eliminated. That also eliminates most maintenance and most common causes of premature failure related to wet lead acid batteries. This leaves a battery that can do the job without the maintenance and problems associated with wet lead-acid batteries.

The charging of any battery is another potential problem area and it exists for all batteries, overcharging has ruined many a good set of batteries. Charging needs to be done at a rate that will not damage the battery and long enough to adequately charge the batteries. Each battery has its own algorithm. A batteries algorithm basically is the rate and duration at which it should be charged for optimum performance. AGM batteries have an aggressive algorithm most similar to wet lead-acid batteries. So in many cases the same charger used for wet lead-acid batteries will perform well for an AGM battery. Gel batteries, sometimes called sealed batteries have much different charging requirements. They usually require different chargers or chargers that have a dual setting, one being for gel batteries. One over charging of a gel battery will reduce the output permanently. Wet lead-acid and AGM batteries are also not meant to be overcharged but are not as sensitive as gel batteries to the event.

Other interesting facts about AGM batteries: Shock and vibration resistant, little self discharge per month only 1%, can be installed and operated upright or on it’s side, certified safe for land, sea or air transport by DOT, IATA, IMDG, ICAO. That is to list a few. These batteries are here now and have become a viable alternative option for wet lead-acid batteries. They are more expensive to begin with, so currently the most common use is for AGM batteries are applications where performance is more important than economy. As these batteries gain popularity, as they are, they are a serious rival to the status quo, wet lead-acid battery.

I want to thank the people at Fullriver Battery Company for contributing to this article.

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By admin, January 6, 2010 3:20 pm

By: Matt Vallez

This article was originally published for the March/April 2008 Golf Car News Magazine and has been updated and fact checked for this issue.

The need for speed has been a never ending request for as long as I have been involved with golf cars, but what about the need to stop? How about having control of the golf car? It would be nice to be able to go 30 miles per hour in a golf car, while having the confidence that you will be able to stop. This is not the feeling you get in most speed modified golf cars.

There are many different ways to hot rod a golf car. I have seen both gas and electric cars highly modified. One electric golf car was modified to the point where the vehicle did a 1/8 mile in 11 seconds, that’s quick for anything. The 72-volt electric golf car was so powerful it launched itself up on to two wheels down the track. It needed almost as much room to slow down because it only had the original mechanical braking system. This is the problem with most speed modified golf cars, they have a brake system designed to stop a vehicle that has a top speed of only 15 miles per hour.

Let’s talk about some more practical speed modified golf cars. The average slightly speed modified golf car is most likely electric, because they cost less and are easier to modify, especially for the average golf car mechanic. They hit top speeds of just under 25 miles per hour. Historically, there are two different varieties of electric golf cars and each has its own challenges in increasing the braking performance. The first is the good old-fashioned series electric car. These simple DC motors can be paired with any high amp series controller, no matter how mild or wild the combination is. You get no help in the slowing down department. The series cars free wheel once you remove your foot from the accelerator. The second variety is the separately excited DC systems; also know as regenerative braking systems. This is a bit ironic, as these systems (by whatever name you want to use) when modified to increase speed are altered in such a way that their ability to use the motor as a method of breaking is also modified. Once the parameters are changed so these systems will go faster the braking parameters are also changed and are not in favor of braking.

So what is the best way to get good braking performance? The new AC cars stop as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, but no one has had the chance to see what happens when these cars are modified to go 25 miles per hour or faster. Regardless, changing to an AC system for the purpose of improving braking would an expensive proposition. So let’s just focus on the brakes as the best way to stop a golf car.

The top two OEM’s have known of this weakness for a long time. Both E-Z-GO and Club Car have had hydraulic brakes available or as standard equipment on many industrial golf type vehicles for years. The reason for the better braking systems on the industrial cars is that they were designed to handle heavy payloads, when compared to fleet golf cars. If we are taking a lesson from the big guys, hydraulic brakes are the best way to improve braking.

Well Steve Stimely of Jake’s has outdone himself again. He has designed a brake system that stops the car three times more effectively while not interfering with the mechanical brakes. That way the mechanical brake can still work as a parking or hill brake as per the original design. The front is where most of the braking power is needed to stop any vehicle, just check your front brakes on your car, they need attention twice as often as the rear ones do on most cars. So if you want a good solution for stopping try a set of the newly designed Jake’s hydraulic brakes available from Nivel or Jake’s. That is the latest word on how to stop your golf car.

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By admin, October 19, 2009 11:00 am

By: Matt Vallez

The other day I received a call from Systems Designer Tony Thorn, a friend and professional acquaintance who works at Alltrax. He was all excited about a new speedometer he had just developed and brought to market. Tony (who invented the thing) ought to be excited, but his excitement was unusually contagious because he really believes in what he has created. After talking about the new device, with Tony for about a half hour I wanted to put my hands on one and try it out myself. So a week later I received a small box delivered to my attention, there it was about the size of a smallish desk top calculator a speedometer for any electric vehicle with a nice big display that anyone’s grandmother could read without glasses.

But where the rubber hits the road is when you install the thing and see how it works. The next weekend I made off with a Nivel Company Golf Car, destination the Vallez experimental garage, from which many bikes and skateboards have never returned and one old Land Rover remains on life support. Once there I got the thing out and read through the instructions. I decide it will be easy and jump in with both feet; I’ll have this thing installed in no time flat. I was correct with the exception of some difficultly I had removing the decorative steering column cover, it had to go or be anchored so as not to rotate when the speedometer is mounted on it. It seemed easier to just remove it.

Other than that, the install was easy with excellent instructions, when I bothered to read them. There are also a lot of pictures that help with the most technical parts. Don’t be freaked out by all the parts you get either, they are for all applications so you only use some of what you see. I only used two clamps and two of the small brackets. Once all the cables are in place and the unit is powered up so the backlight comes on your in business. Now by measuring the height of the tire and multiplying by pi and then a conversion factor from inches to millimeters you have your calibration number. Calibrating the thing for your specific tire and wheel set up only requires a short run through the prompts and some other questions and the speedometer is all ready for action.

I get out on the road and bring the golf car up to speed and low and behold, there was 18 displayed on the speedometer, I was impressed. It has many other features including an odometer, clock and a heat sensor for your electric or gas motor. There are more but I am almost out of time. This is a great new device and will become more and more popular as people continue to use golf cars for everything they previously used a car for. This LSV movement is really picking up momentum with the Stimulus money getting spread all around in the form of tax credits.

Allowing LSV’s “low speed vehicles” on public roads has not been without controversy since they do not meet all of the DHST or DOT safety requirements. Getting your LSV registered for on road will require certain safety features added or updated including seat belts, headlights, taillights, and AS-5 compliant windshields. Some states also require rear view mirrors, reflectors, and speedometers with non-resettable odometers. Many states treat a moving violation on a golf car the same as if you were in a regular car. This includes speeding, drunk driving and reckless driving just to mention a few. This new device won’t keep you sober, but it will tell you how fast you are traveling which hopefully will be enough to keep you out of the long arm of the law.

Nivel now has in stock the new EX-RAY Speedometer, so don’t take my word for it try one of these out for your self. This is a nice new device that one day soon will become a standard on all golf cars.

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By admin, August 14, 2009 12:36 pm

By: Matt Vallez

Here we are late in a year most of us are looking forward to looking back on. We all want to be able to look back and say that was a tough year and remember the lessons it taught us about being frugal and creative. But we still need to have a little fun; this issue is our Commercial and Industrial Vehicle Issue and what would be more fun than to do a head to head comparison of the biggest golf car type vehicle offered by the big two.

Both E-Z-GO and Club Car make formidable four wheel drive vehicles that have impressive load capacity and power, but the nod for biggest and baddest has to go to Club Car for the XRT 1550 SE, available in either gas or diesel. This 4 passenger facing forward monster weights in at just under a ton, 1,786 LBS for the diesel version. It has a 1,600 LBS total vehicle weight capacity and can handle a bed payload of 800 LBS. Yes Club Car gets the nod because E-Z-GO currently does not make a comparable 4 passenger 4 wheel drive vehicle.

  CLUB CAR XRT 1550SE

Now that we have seen the mini pick-up in diesel, that any of us could drive home or have for a mere $13,800 let’s do a head to head comparison. We will take two vehicles that are fairly matched and put them side by side. The E-Z-GO ST480 Off Road Workhorse and the Club Car XRT 1550 Gasoline.

 E-Z-GO ST480 OFW      CLUB CAR XRT 1550

 Both cars have gas engines and 4 wheel drive power trains, seat two people and come with a cargo box on the back, so let’s dig into the details.

There are several other manufactures in this space that specialize in electric 4X4 golf cars. These products have developed almost a cultish following among a growing number of outdoorsmen and hunters. Stealth 4×4; stealth4×4.com and Bad Boy Buggies; badboybuggies.com are two of the first 4×4 electric and both have developed a much deserved dedicated following among outdoor enthusiasts. These cars are not only capable of going places no ordinary golf car can go they do it with the quiet only an electric vehicle can deliver.

To be honest, the way I play golf any of the above 4×4’s would help me speed up my game, because almost anywhere I hit it I would be able to ride right up on the ball for my next shot. I think most superintendents would not be pleased to see me show up to their golf course with any 4×4 golf car with off-road style tires, they just don’t have a sense of humor when it comes to their turf.

This is about as much of a side by side as we can do on paper, it is like shopping for mattresses as each company uses different measurements or terminology or simply has a NA for an important category where their car may not be the best. We covered the most important and basic items with this chart above. The type of 4X4 drive train is also a big determining factor with any 4×4 gas vehicle comparison. Other than road test we can’t do a proper job of comparing. Unfortunately I do not have either of these cars available for the road test at press time. 

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By admin, July 14, 2009 4:26 pm

By: Matt Vallez

This article originally appeared in the July / August, 2001 issue of Golf Car News Magazine and has been reprinted for this issue.

Today we are going to talk about pistons and rings, more precisely about the way piston rings fit into piston grooves. There are a lot of different ways that piston rings fit into the piston groove. For instance most 2-cycle (E-Z-GO & Yamaha) pistons have a tapered or beveled inside edge also called an upper side keystone ring. This type of piston ring must be put in with its tapered side facing up. The rings will not seat into the groove if put in with the taper side down. Also putting the backside or rear edge of a piston ring into the groove is not an accurate way to check if a tapered ring is the correct size for that piston ring groove.

This time of year we receive numerous calls claming that piston rings do not fit the piston ring groves and are the incorrect size. Usually we can explain about the tapered side facing up and fix the misunderstanding, in extreme cases we will put the rings on the piston and send it to the customer. To make things a little more confusing aftermarket rings and not always marked the same way as the O.E.M. rings. Below is a diagram that should help to clear up some of the confusion with the 2-cycle or any tapered piston rings.

If you were confused with the 2-cycle rings, the 4-cycle piston rings are even more difficult. All 4-cycle pistons are not the same. What is common about the 4-cycle piston & rings are that they all have three ring grooves. The top groove is for the compression ring, middle is for the wiper ring and the bottom groove is for the oil ring. There are different types of oil rings, some are three piece and others are one. Also different types of compression rings, some are tapered some are not. The compression rings for Yamaha G2 & G9 piston are tapered. The most important thing to remember about 4-cycle pistons and rings are that they are all different. Each ring fits in one groove and one groove only.

It is important to get the correct rings in the proper ring groove. Failure to do so will make it impossible to assemble the engine or even worse, cause damage to the cylinder if you are able to get the incorrectly assembled piston and ring into the cylinder. Aftermarket pistons and rings are not necessarily marked like the O.E.M. piston & rings. The diagram below should be helpful for getting the 4-cycle rings correct.

Aftermarket pistons and rings are made of the highest quality materials and produced to exact tolerances. It is worth checking to be sure that the rings are going into proper groove in the correct direction before assuming that the piston & rings are faulty. Having the knowledge to perform a task properly the first time is invaluable; it will not only save time and energy but also money. I hope that this will be helpful to all who take time to read it.

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By admin, May 14, 2009 5:22 pm

By: Matt Vallez

The following technically speaking first appeared in the March/April of 2005 Golf Car News Magazine. It has been updated and fact checked again for release in this issue.

The lead acid battery has been the battery of choice in the golf car industry for years. Until other battery technologies become economical enough to put under the seat of a golf car, at a reasonable price, lead acid battery packs will be in golf cars for the foreseeable future. In today’s tight economy, it is necessary to get every last drop of amperage out of a lead acid battery pack, there are products, old and new, that help to utilize every bit of life available in lead acid batteries. Today you will read about some of them. First let us discuss what is the number one, life shorting event and killer of lead acid batteries, sulfation.

Sulfation is the most common cause of lead acid battery failure and here is why. As a battery cycles, crystalline lead sulfate begins to coat the surface of the electrode plates. Crystalline lead sulfate does not conduct electricity and cannot be converted back to its previous state under normal charging conditions. Over time this crystalline coating will start to limit the area on the plates where an electrochemical reaction can take place. As this materializes on all the surfaces of plates within a battery, the battery begins to lose its ability to hold a charge.

As the electrical resistance within a sulfated battery increases, receiving a charge begins to take longer, and less efficient charging produces excess heat. Higher battery temperatures cause longer cooling times and accelerate corrosion.  Over time and repetition the process spirals to the point where mechanical failure can take place as a side effects of the excess sulfation. Barring any mechanical failure of the battery, sulfation will be the ultimate mode of failure for 80% of all lead acid batteries. This is a time proven fact; sulfation shortens the life of most lead acid batteries.

Sulfation is a natural process that occurs in all lead acid batteries, and can be stopped by one of two different ways. The first and oldest method of desulfation, the process which sulfation is stopped and/or reversed, is the pulse method. This method has been around for quite some time. Our government has used pulse desulfation devices on military equipment since WWII. There are numerous competing manufactures of these devices. The claims are that, pulse technology battery desulfation is clean, efficient and will prolong the life of your batteries at least 20%. That’s 20% if used from day one on a new battery; you can double the life of an older battery or battery pack, by simply stopping and, or reversing sulfation.

Pulse desulfation in general is a small electrical device that is attached to the battery or batteries, which delivers a small electrical charge through- out the batteries plates. This charge causes the sulfate crystals to either dissolve or fall off the plates, depending whose literature you believe, and what product you get. These pulse devices have been the most widely used and have the longest track record of any method of desulfation around. They are most commonly used in the material handling industry, where battery replacement is both expensive and time consuming.

They pose two problems; one is the problem of attaching an electrical device to an electrical device. Murphy’s law may come into play and at some point, an electrical event will take place within the device or the battery that will do damage to the pulse device. The other problem for the golf car industry is the price. Some of these devices cost as much wholesale, as two-golf car batteries. That is a lot to pay to increase battery life by 20% or more, and not practical for the golf car industry. In the forklift industry a battery can be as much as $ 5,000, so a $300 pulse desulfater makes a lot more sense. Golf car battery sets, on the other hand can be as low as $366 for 6-volt and not more than $500 for 8-volt, wholesale pricing. A Pulse desulfater will have to come down in price to be a viable product for the golf car industry. Nivel is currently testing just such a device and my have an electric desulfater available in late 2009.

The other method that I have had success with over the past few years is a chemical method, an additive to the batteries electrolyte that actually reverses sulfation. This method of desulfation works faster than the pulse method. A set of mechanically sound batteries that can no longer hold a charge can be ready for action in about a half hour. Just by dissolving the sulfate crystals off the plates, the chemical reaction actually restores the batteries ability to hold a charge. I would not believe it, except I have seen it with my own eyes. The second advantage to this method is cost. The price to restore a set of batteries with a chemical desulfater is $37.50, one time. That is less than the price of one battery. Well worth the price even if it only extends the life by 20%, and well worth it if it doubles the life as it can for an older set.

Chemical desulfaters have been around for a number of years as well. There are different types of chemical desulfaters. Some use cadmium, an extremely dangerous chemical. Others use non-hazardous chemicals that work as a catalysis, when added to the electrolyte. The way things are these days dangerous chemicals are just to great of a liability around the work place and should be avoided at all costs.

All chemical additives have a certain snake oil reputation to over come, and a non-hazardous chemical desulfater is no exception.  Nivel now carries a non-hazardous battery desulfater and demister. Both are in 12oz bottles desulfater is part #14565 and the battery demister, a wonderful product that lessens battery gassing and watering for any voltage of battery is part #6152. These products have been used extensively in the man lift industry, and have demonstrated their value there. I was not convinced until I saw them work myself, and have since have had Roger Kramer, A.K.A The Guru, test these products as well. He also is convinced of the value these have for our industry. I would expect you would be as skeptical as I was and need to see for yourself to believe it works. Give it a try on one of your next projects and I’ll bet that you make it part of your arsenal.

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By admin, March 14, 2009 6:22 pm

By: Matt Vallez

Do you know what kind of water is going into the batteries you maintain? Aside from making sure there is adequate water in the battery in the first place, what’s most important is the purity of that water, because any water is better than no water at all. This is not a question about the water being healthy for humans to drink. The water could be considered healthy for humans, but may be harmful for a battery. Chlorine is commonly used to kill bacteria by water municipalities and is present in most tap water; it keeps the water free from bacteria dangerous to humans. However this same chlorine is harmful to a battery. Any dissolved mineral in the water such as calcium, magnesium, chlorides and other naturally occurring minerals and salts are said to make the water hard. Hard water is water with a high mineral content.

Hard water will shorten the life of any battery, and even more so the life of a deep cycle battery. The more often the battery is charged or cycled and gassed, the more evaporation takes place, as a result more water must be added to keep the battery plates covered. Over time the hard water’s dissolved minerals and salts build up on the plates of the battery. This build-up will seriously shorten the usable life of the battery. Preventing these impurities from getting into the battery in the first place is what we are discussing today.

The first question you might ask is how hard is the water where I am? Do I even need to worry about this in the first place? Those are both good questions and an answer can be found at: http.//water.usgs.gov/owg/ there is a map there that will give you hardness by region. Let me just give you a “readers digest version”. The softest water is in parts of New England, South Atlantic-Gulf, Pacific Northwest, Hawaii regions. Everywhere else has moderately hard water, hard water or very hard water. Even if you are in an area with the softest water there may be things added to the water that makes it hard, such as chlorine depending on how the water is treated in your local area.

The best ways to test the hardness of your water is with an alkalinity test or contact your local utility. See the website http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/il.htm if you want to get locally specific water hardness info. Hardness is caused by compounds of calcium and magnesium, and by a verity of other metals. General guidelines for classifications of water are: 0-60 MG/L (milligrams per liter) as calcium carbonate is classified as soft; 61 to 120 moderately hard; 121 to 180 MG/L as hard; and more than 180MG/L as very hard. Most people have hard water and for the sake of this article let’s assume you have hard water.

Once you have determined you have hard water and hard water is bad for your batteries, you have limited choices. A. You can ignore this article and the major battery manufactures and just top off your batteries with hard tap water. B. Buy distilled water, not just bottled water but distilled bottled water and top off your batteries with it. C. Get a filtration system to filter out the harmful minerals and salts and top off your batteries with that. To me B & C are the only ones that make any sense.

And unless you are only caring for a few golf cars or you want to get some practice as Gunga Din for you’re your local playhouse’s annual Rudyard Kipling poetry reenactment day, I suggest you look into getting a filter set up to purify the water before it goes into your batteries. Lugging around gallon jugs of water is hard work and expensive, you usually have to drive to the store to get the distilled bottled water and then there is a storage issue. The water in the tap can be made pure no mater how hard it is with a good filter system. And now available for the first time from Nivel is the Philadelphia Scientific Water Deionizers Filtration System. These can be ordered with the patented, non electric watering gun with automatic shutoff.  See ad on opposite page.

I know putting pure water in your batteries sounds like a lot of extra work, just keeping water in the things can be a full time job, but how much work is it to change out a set of batteries a year earlier that you should have?