Golf Cart Batteries – SLA, VRLA, Deep Cycle Batteries
Golf carts completely depend and rely on the golf cart batteries for its smooth running and long life. There are different types of golf cart batteries that are available in the market depending on different manufacturers and voltage specifications. Golf cart batteries are lead acid batteries, which have three types that I just know, SLA, VRLA, deep cycle batteries.
SLA (easy to confuse with SLI, the starting-lighting-ignition battery that cranks the Chevy) means Sealed Lead-Acid, and is commonly used to mean “any lead-acid battery you don’t have to keep filling with water”. The really smart people will point out that no lead-acid battery is truly “sealed”, because the charging process makes them (all) exhale a bit of hydrogen and oxygen gas, which has to go somewhere! The best lead-acid golf cart batteries encourage the gases to join up and pop out water molecules, so not much of it lingers around to cause trouble – unless you accidentally overcharge.
VRLA means “valve-regulated lead-acid”, meaning it’s got a valve on it that maintains a little positive pressure all the time, so it stays sealed unless there’s an honest-to-goodness gas-venting emergency. It’s just better technology, but the same thing.
Deep cycle batteries are designed to be discharged down as much as 80% time after time, and have much thicker plates. The major difference between a true deep cycle battery and others is that the plates are SOLID Lead plates – not sponge. This gives less surface area, thus less “instant” power like starting batteries need. Although these can be cycled down to 20% charge, the best lifespan and cost method is to keep the average cycle at about 50% discharge.
Unfortunately, it is often impossible to tell what you are really buying in some of the discount stores or places that specialize in automotive batteries. The golf car battery is quite popular for small systems and RV’s. The problem is that “golf car” refers to a size of battery (commonly called GC-2, or T-105), not the type or construction – so the quality and construction of a golf car battery can vary considerably – ranging from the cheap off brand with thin plates up the true deep cycle brands, such as Leoch, Crown, Deka, Trojan, etc. In general, you get what you pay for.
Check which type of battery your cart has will ensure that the correct golf cart batteries are bought for the golf cart. Knowing some knowledge about golf cart batteries helps you get the fittest batteries for your cart.
Source: www.leoch.com
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