Batteries today use minimum lead in their plates which multiplies sulfating problems. When a battery sets in a discharged state this causes sulfating. In years back when plates were made with sufficient amounts of lead all one would have to do to disulfide a battery was to what was called cooking the battery. This is when you charge the battery with 40amps for a couple of hours. The heat would cause the sulfate to break up and float to the top. New batteries however, since the plates are so thin the heat generated from cooking melts them causing them to short against one another. So when your battery goes bad after 3 or 6 months it is usually due to an undercharged state which causes the plates to sulfate. The batteries which come in our buggies can only take 1-1.5 amps when charging as with almost all small ATV batteries. Stators on these buggies will only put out a couple amps when charging the battery. The larger capacity lawn mower battery down 50% would take about 10 hours or longer to charge at 1.5 amps. When using one of these batteries and it becomes low on charge the buggies stator will be working extra hard constantly trying to keep up with the larger capacity battery. Besides the cheap batteries being produced today two other problems occur to run a battery down. Lack of charging and voltage draw when not in use. These buggies are bad after time of drawing low doses of current even when buggy is parked and off. Since the batteries are low capacity sitting for a week or two is all that is needed to discharge and start the sulfating process which starts below 60% charge. I have put disconnects on all my buggies on the negative post. This keeps a draw from occurring during idle time plus if hidden seconds as an anti theft devise. So if you have the common battery problems the first thing to do is make sure the charging system is putting out the 13.8-14.8 volts at 1.5 amps, install a negative cutoff for when the buggy is parked for more than a day. Purchasing a good grade battery is better in the long run over a cheap battery if properly maintained. Even if the negative is disconnected if it will set up for some time (week or more) keep a maintenance charge on it. Batteries of any sort will discharge on their own. Glass matt or wet batteries(acid filled) have a short shelf life which is why you will find cheap batteries online. A warehouse stocking glass matt or wet batteries will not be charging their batteries. You may get a battery that set on a shelf for 6 months prior to purchase, charge will be down and sulfating has already set in. The longer it sets the lower the charge the more sulfated the battery will be. It is best to purchase either a dry battery( one you add the acid to) if going this route it is definitely a must that it be charged with a smart charger prior to putting it into service for if not the charge will always be down leading to a quick sulfating process. Even though they are called charging systems the vehicles charging system is really a maintain charger. A battery charger is what is needed to charge the battery from a low state of charge. Another more expensive option is to go with one of the premium lithium batteries and stay away from the cheap lithium for if not properly manufactured they can blow up. Remember the Sony laptop battery in the Volvo several years ago that blew up, it is still on You Tube, the car looked like it was full of explosives. Which ever way you go with batteries wet, dry glass matt always read and follow the instructions which come with it. I'll bet if I run a pole of all members on the forum I will only maybe get a handful who ever read the instruction sheet. Those who do read them will have better luck out of their batteries. Todays batteries are much different than batteries of old which in all my years until recent never remember being included with instructions. Hopefully this info is helpful.
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