Club Car XRT 850 Owner's Manual page 45

WATER QUALITY
Water purity is the most important factor in the performance and life span of the vehicle batteries. Club Car has,
therefore, placed an increased importance on battery maintenance.
Outlined below are four battery watering procedures, grouped into two categories: Preferred and Alternate methods.
Club Car recommends the use of a deionizer or distilled water. Alternate methods of reverse osmosis or tap water
are allowable but should be avoided since water quality can change from day to day depending on additives, water
main leaks, etc.
Preferred Methods
• Distilled Water: Distilled water is the most common type of water used in batteries. Distilled water is created by
boiling water, collecting the steam from the boiling, and allowing the steam to condense back into water. The
distilling process results in a water source which is free of minerals that can lead to the degradation of battery
performance and life.
• Deionized Water: Deionized water is created by inducing electrically charged resins that attract and bind to sodium,
calcium, iron, copper, chloride, and bromide ions. The result of this electrical filtering is a purified water, which
contains little to no mineral ions. To make sure the deionized water remains at a high quality, replace the filter in the
deionizer per the manufacturer's recommendations.
Deionizer Systems
The Service Parts Department at Club Car offers two deionizer systems: one for vehicles equipped with the Single
Point Watering System (SPWS), CC PN 104006001 and the other for vehicles without SPWS, CC PN AM10974.
Alternate Methods
• Reverse Osmosis: Reverse osmosis involves forcing water through a membrane that allows water to pass while
trapping solids. The choice of membrane used determines the amount of solids or impurities which get trapped
and hence the purity quality of the filtered water. In addition, the usage frequency of the membrane can also
contribute to the filtered water quality. Due to the variance in water quality consistency, Club Car recommends
the use of the deionizer or distilled water.
• Tap Water: While the use of tap water without filtering is an alternate method of battery watering, its use should be
limited due to the levels of dissolved minerals and chemicals that can degrade battery performance and life. If
unfiltered tap water is used, regular water analyses must be conducted to check for impurities. The following chart
lists the maximum allowable minerals, solids, and contaminates in parts per million and their impact on battery
performance. Water testing, however, is expensive, and water quality can change from day to day depending on
additives, water main leaks, etc. Due to the cost and labor of performing water quality tests, Club Car recommends
the use of distilled water or a deionizer.
XRT 850 Electric and Gasoline Vehicle Owner's Manual
Batteries – Electric Vehicles
Page 43