Golf Cart FYI

Batteries will last longer when correct (distilled) water levels are maintained, check once a month minimum. Battery life will be extended by not going below a 40% discharge level before recharging. The most damaging thing you can do is allow your batteries to become fully discharged.

Keep the batteries clean. Hose off dust and dirt regularly.

Keep the tires inflated to the maximum allowed. This will make an enormous difference in the amount of power needed to maintain a given speed. The cart will ride a little rougher, but you will notice the difference in speed.

Electric carts will benefit from battery balancing. This is the procedure of, waiting until your battery charger has turned off, then pull the plug from the cart and wait about 30 seconds then plug the charger back into the cart. You will see the charger restarts. Let the charger run again until it shuts off automatically. This process equalizes the low batteries up to full charge. This should be done every 30 days.

We hear stories about 10-year-old cart batteries and battery restoration treatments. Some model and year carts are harder on batteries than others. Battery manufacturing specifications have varied, also. Make sure the batteries you buy have been manufactured recently. Make sure the manufacturing date is listed on your receipt. Our experience suggests that batteries will last 3 to 5 years, and good maintenance will prolong battery life. Stating how long a given set of batteries should last is just a guess.

Modern LED’s make about one hundred lumens per watt while a regular incandescent bulb makes about 10 lumens per watt. Electronic circuits also called engines use drivers to multiply the light output by pulsing (rapidly turning it on and off) the light which controls the heat generated by overpowering the LED. This can produce some very bright light and also heat. These lights will always have some type of heat sink usually finned aluminum to draw away and dissipate the heat. They do produce more light. Unless more light is necessary for high-speed vehicles, hunting or farming, its brighter than is needed and at a much greater cost. They can also use more power which defeats the best reason for a golf cart to have LEDs in the first place White LED lights are more complex than colored LED’s because they require 3 colors to make white. SMD LED’s have 3 diode (tri-chip) LEDs in one which is more efficient.

The best LED lens is made from Poly methyl methacrylate (PMM) because it is the clearest man-made material. Sunscreen and hardening elements can be added to the PMM to reduce sun damage and scratching. Important also is adding chrome plated reflectors that can tune the light to get the most reflective value.

The best reason to choose LEDs for a golf cart is because they offer the brightest for the power used - about 90% less power. This means you can feel more comfortable using your lights and not worry about wearing down your batteries.

Some people are disappointed with LED lights. They see a lot of bulbs and expect something like a car headlight beam in light power. It's the old apples and oranges thing. Car headlights are between 1500 and 1800 lumens and cars have two lights, which totals 3,600 lumens. So, a LED light producing 200 to 300 lumens is not going to compare.

So, what does this all mean? You can’t really compare LED light to incandescent by brightness (lumens rating) only. Both lighted area and power consumption should be considered. We now offer the SMD2835 LED light. This is now our standard light. It will light an area of about 20’ X 20’ feet or an area the size of a 2-car garage. Not like broad daylight, but bright enough to see objects ahead. Remember, the average golf cart travels about 12 MPH maximum. So, the need to see hundreds of feet ahead is not necessary. Our dealers tell us our single light is about 10%-20% brighter than the standard single headlight found on name brand carts. Best of all our SMD2835 LED light only uses 4 watts. You could leave it on 24 hours a day for 2 weeks before your batteries would run out of power.

Our lights have been well received by dealers and retail customers, alike. The front LED light greatly improves visibility from oncoming traffic, and we have had many “awesome” level complements on our taillight's brightness. LED’s also last longer. We tested our LED light continuously for 6,000 hours before it began to fade. This is well beyond any reasonable use from a golf cart.

LiTESeasy products only work at 12-volts. LiTESeasy lights draw less than 4 watts which should not affect the life of a well-maintained battery. So, with a 36-volt cart you have a choice of using two 6-volt batteries to draw 12-volt power or reduce your combined 36-volts with a voltage reducer. Both with 36-volt and 48-volt carts there is an added voltage reducer benefit of drawing power from all batteries equally and reducing (not eliminating) the chances of one battery wearing out before the others. Those with six 8-volt or four 12-volt battery 48-volt carts ?MUST use a voltage reducer. With the cost of batteries on the rise, the reducer should pay for itself over time.?

LiTESeasy products are designed for “standard unaltered golf carts”. A standard golf carts maximum speed is about 12 MPH. A standard unaltered golf cart cannot be driven on a street without rules and ordinances that give permission to cart owners who meet certain requirements. These requirements vary from “don’t be stupid” to requiring a driver’s license, inspections, insurance, signal lights, annual permits and so on. There is also a wide variation as to what is required and enforced between cities, states, military bases, neighborhoods, campgrounds, and retirement communities.

We believe that the best way to find out what is required in the location where you plan to operate your cart is to talk to law enforcement officers in that area. That way you will know exactly what is required and how it is enforced. Depending on others can lead to buying unnecessary or unacceptable equipment and possible traffic violations and fines. Always talk to the local police before you buy to be sure.