E-Z-GO RXV Fleet Freedom Shuttle 2+2 Owner'S Manual Download

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Page 24

OPERATION AND SERVICE INFORMATION

Owner’s Guide

Read all of this manual to become thoroughly familiar with this vehicle. Pay particular attention to all Notes, Cautions and Warnings.

To prevent battery explosion that could result
in severe personal injury or death, never insert
a metal thermometer into a battery. Use a
hydrometer with a built in thermometer that is
designed for testing batteries.

Specific gravity is the measurement of a liquid that is
compared to a baseline. The baseline is water which is
assigned a base number of 1.000. The concentration of
sulfuric acid to water in a new golf car battery is 1.280
which means that the electrolyte weighs 1.280 times the
weight of the same volume of water. A fully charged bat-
tery will test at 1.275 - 1.280 while a discharged battery
will read in the 1.140 range.

Do not perform a hydrometer test on a battery that has just
been watered. The battery must go through at least one
charge and discharge cycle in order to permit the water to ade-
quately mix with the electrolyte.

The temperature of the

electrolyte

is important since

the hydrometer reading must be corrected to 80° F (27°
C). High quality hydrometers are equipped with an inter-
nal thermometer that will measure the temperature of
the electrolyte and will include a conversion scale to
correct the float reading. It is important to recognize that
the electrolyte temperature is significantly different from
the ambient temperature if the vehicle has been operat-
ed.

USING A HYDROMETER

1. Draw electrolyte into the hydrometer several times to

permit the thermometer to adjust to the electrolyte
temperature and note the reading. Examine the color
of the electrolyte. A brown or gray coloration indicates
a problem with the battery and is a sign that the bat-
tery is nearing the end of its life.

2. Draw the minimum quantity of electrolyte into the hy-

drometer to permit the float to float freely without con-
tacting the top or bottom of the cylinder.

3. Hold the hydrometer in a vertical position at eye level

and note the reading where the electrolyte meets the
scale on the float.

4. Add or subtract four points (.004) to the reading for ev-

ery 10° F (6° C) the electrolyte temperature is above
or below 80° F (27° C). Adjust the reading to conform
with the electrolyte temperature, e.g., if the reading in-
dicates a specific gravity of 1.250 and the electrolyte

temperature is 90° F (32° C),

add

four points (.004) to

the 1.250 which gives a corrected reading of 1.254.
Similarly if the temperature was 70° F (21° C),

sub-

tract

four points (.004) from the 1.250 to give a cor-

rected reading of 1.246.

5. Test each cell and note the readings (corrected to 80°

F or 27° C). A variation of fifty points between any two
cell readings (example 1.250 - 1.200) indicates a
problem with the low reading cell(s).

As a battery ages the specific gravity of the electrolyte
will decrease at full charge. This is not a reason to re-
place the battery providing all cells are within fifty points
of each other.

Since the hydrometer test is in response to a vehicle ex-
hibiting a performance problem , the vehicle should be
recharged and the test repeated. If the results indicate a
weak cell, the battery or batteries should be removed
and replaced with a good battery of the same brand,
type and approximate age.

Fig. 30 Hydrometer Temperature Correction