Charge, and charge again are the words of advice from Ace of Carts owner Darren Schoonbeart when it comes to winterizing your golf car.
Golf courses across Saskatchewan continue to close daily across the province leading to a long winter of parked carts. The owner of Saskatoon based Ace of Carts said preparing your cart’s battery for six months of winter is the most important task of winterizing your car.
“What we recommend on any of the car models is to do what is called a double-charge,” Schoonbaert explained to Golf Saskatchewan. “That would be charging the vehicle fully, so letting it run it’s full charge cycle and then you are going to unplug it and plug it back in again.”
That process will top up all the batteries in the electric car’s system. Carts utilize four or six different batteries in their system. Schoonbaert said disconnecting the battery from all power sources is the next step.
“For Club Cars, we get people to lift their seats, fleet car or individual and flip the tow run switch to tow. After it’s in tow then we have you disconnect the mains on your battery. That would be your main positive that runs on one side of the battery and then your main negative,” he explained.
Keeping your cars inside is ideal but storing the vehicles outside isn’t detrimental. Most courses cover their carts with tarps over the winter months in outdoor storage sites. Individual carts left at courses are somewhat protected from the Saskatchewan elements but aren’t in heated storage units. Outside of battery protection Schoonbaert said winterizing the unit is simple. You can spend some time cleaning your cart after a few months of wear and tear.
“You do want to make sure the batteries are clean,” he said. “We kind of have four rules, you want it to be charged, cleaned, tight, and watered. Those would be the four main points.”
“Watering” your cart is making sure you add distilled water to the batteries allowing a chemical reaction with the acid to create the charge.
If you have a gas-powered car or a fleet of them at a course, battery maintenance still pertains. Schoonbaert said preparing the leftover fuel is another key component of maintenance. Adding Sea Foam to the fuel will do the trick.
When it comes to cleaning your cart during the year or prior to storage, lemon Pledge is the best tool for all plastic and seats. He joked don’t use the Pledge in the spring to spiffy up your cart, the product will leave the seats and steering wheal very sticky.
To see more information on winterizing your golf cart, click on the Ace of Carts video.