
Why does my golf cart smell like rotten eggs?
Well, this rotten egg-like smell is due to the discharge from the batteries in the golf cart. Golf carts can smell bad due to a gas being released when the golf cart batteries are being charged. The gas produced during charging has a sulfur-like odor which smells like rotten eggs.
Is it normal for a car battery to smell like rotten eggs?
Is it Normal for a Car Battery to Smell Like Rotten Eggs? – Home Battery Bank Is it Normal for a Car Battery to Smell Like Rotten Eggs? If you’re smelling sulfur or something akin to rotten eggs emitting from your car battery, you’re going to need to take immediate action or you’ll be suffering health problems, a dead battery, or both.
How long does the smell from a gas golf cart last?
The gas is not particularly good for the lungs and people with lung or respiratory issues are advised to stay away until the cart is properly ventilated and any residual smell has been removed. The foul smell from the gas carts usually last for about the initial 10 charges or so.
Why should you ventilate your golf cart well?
It is strongly advised to ventilate the golf cart well to ensure that the stench of the gas goes away. The gas is not particularly good for the lungs and people with lung or respiratory issues are advised to stay away until the cart is properly ventilated and any residual smell has been removed.

What do you do when your battery smells like rotten eggs?
If you want to keep yourself safe from the harmful effects of the battery, you should look for such signs and symptoms, including rotten egg smell or other such smells. These bad odors are a sign that is telling you to change the battery as soon as possible.
Why does my cart smell like rotten eggs?
Golf carts can smell bad due to a gas being released when the golf cart batteries are being charged. The gas produced during charging has a sulfur-like odor which smells like rotten eggs. The smell is worse during the first few charges but tends to get better with time.
Can an overcharged battery smell like rotten eggs?
If you notice your car battery smells like rotten eggs, it could be a sign that the battery is overcharging. When a battery overcharges, it produces hydrogen sulfide gas, which can cause the unpleasant smell.
Why does my golf cart smell?
Golf cart batteries may emit a burning smell due to damaged wiring or a low level of water. If batteries are lacking water, they tend to give off a smell of burning plastic due to the lack of electrolytes. This should be the first thing you check if you can smell burning.
Is it safe to drive a car that smells like rotten eggs?
Rotten Egg Smell Coming from Car Vents If the catalytic converter, fuel filters, or fuel pressure sensors are worn out or damaged, a sulfur gas can leak out and make its way into your car's cabin. This smell isn't just unpleasant—like the other ones we've highlighted, it can be dangerous if left unaddressed.
What does the smell of sulfur mean?
Natural gas and propane are odorless, but gas companies inject them with a chemical called mercaptan that gives them a sulfur smell—like rotten eggs—to alert residents to a gas leak. A small gas leak could be creating the occasional foul odor you're noticing, so don't take any chances.
What causes a battery to smell?
Conventional acid lead automotive batteries are filled with a mixture of water and sulfuric acid. As the battery wears, some of the acid and water may evaporate which will disturb the mixture. This may cause the battery to overheat or boil, which will produce an unpleasant smell, and even smoking in more severe cases.
What happens if you smell battery acid?
It can cause severe skin burns, can irritate the nose and throat and cause difficulties breathing if inhaled, can burn the eyes and possibly cause blindness, and can burn holes in the stomach if swallowed. Concentrated sulfuric acid is commonly used in the United States as a drain and toilet bowl cleaner.
Should I leave my golf cart plugged in all the time?
Manufacturers suggest leaving your golf cart plugged in all of the time while using an auto battery charger, as it will keep the batteries fully charged and always available. If batteries are not charged for prolonged storage, they may damage over time and deliver less capacity.
Do golf cart batteries emit carbon monoxide?
It was determined that lead batteries do not emit carbon monoxide. They do, however, emit hydrogen. It was also noted that carbon monoxide detectors will activate when exposed to high amounts of hydrogen. Hydrogen gas like carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas.
Should golf cart batteries be fully charged before adding water?
Check the Water Levels Overwatering and under watering can both be detrimental to your battery. Before attempting to fill your battery, it should be completely charged. Only add water to a discharged battery if the battery plates are exposed, in this instance only add water to cover the plates.
Is it normal for a battery to smell when charging?
A burning-like smell may also come while charging the batteries. This odor smells explicitly like burnt plastic caused due to the poor condition of the wiring or a low level of water in the batteries. Generally, when batteries run out of electrolytes or water, it produces a plastic burning-like smell.
What does a leaking lithium battery smell like?
Almost all lithium cells, good or bad, smell like ether which is used for starting balky engines. This is a somewhat fruity/alcohol/volatile hydrocarbon fragrance - nothing like rotten eggs. In my experience, it's normal to smell this anytime a package or light is opened up.
Why do lead acid batteries smell bad?
Over-charging a lead acid battery can produce hydrogen sulfide. The gas is colorless, very poisonous, flammable and has the odor of rotten eggs. Hydrogen sulfide also occurs naturally during the breakdown of organic matter in swamps and sewers; it is present in volcanic gases, natural gas and some well waters.
What does AA battery acid smell like?
What Does AA Battery Acid Smell Like? When the battery overheats, it produces a smell that is like rotten eggs. This is because the battery's electrolyte is made up of sulfuric acid which converts into hydrogen sulfide that has the smell of rotten eggs.
Why does my car smell like sulfur?
The cart can smell Sulphur-like due to overcharging of the batteries or insufficient water levels in the batteries. Switching off the engine rather than starting it again could avoid the smell for about 30 minutes, but using this process continuously could harm the battery’s longevity. A better option would be to check the voltages of the batteries and bring them to the prescribed level of voltage. If the carts are driven without adequate water in the batteries, then the sulfur-like smell can increase abundantly.
Why does my golf cart smell bad?
A typical golf cart also contains different acids, due to which a foul smell may be discharged. This may happen due to leaking of the container where the gas or acid is stored and spreading of the same. Other than the smell, this can be highly risky, considering the gases are flammable.
Why do golf cart batteries smell?
If you are wondering about why golf cart batteries smell while charging then we are here with an answer! Golf cart batteries smell due to the gas emitted from certain chemicals present in the batteries while charging them. The chemicals present in the golf cart batteries are hydrogen sulfide, a product of heavy charging batteries. Heavy charging is the initial step of a conventional deep charge algorithm.
Why does my battery smell?
As mentioned earlier, overcharging batteries can also cause such a smell; a quick tip to avoid it can be discharging the batteries a while ago before using them. And regulating the charging time can help maintain the battery’s longevity and prevent the smell.
Is a golf cart charger bad for you?
After a while, the charger drops the amperage level to cease the deep cycle charge. Undetected amounts of gas are still produced after the charger goes off, but that can’t be considered harmful. The initial strong odor must be ventilated as that may prove harmful to the lungs and toxic for breathing. The gas may often be flammable and lead to explosions.
Why Does Your Golf Cart Smell Like it’s Burning?
A gas golf cart may give off a plastic burning smell on your gas cart due to damaged wiring, or a low level of water in the batteries.
What does a battery smell like?
The gas produced during charging has a sulfur-like odor which smells like rotten eggs. The smell is worse during the first few charges but tends to get better with time. The batteries have an algorithm for deep charging, specially designed to help charge faster and more efficiently.
Why do golf carts smell like eggs?
Why do golf carts smell like rotten eggs? Golf carts can smell like rotten eggs due to a sulfur gas being produced during the charging of the golf cart batteries.
How long does a gas cart smell?
The foul smell from the gas carts usually last for about the initial 10 charges or so. This doesn’t mean that there will not be any discharge of gas during the subsequent charges.
Why does my gas tank smell?
The simplest explanation for the cause of the smell could be that the gas cap over the tank may not have been locked properly.
What is leaking out of my gas cart?
Sulfuric acid could be leaking out of your gas cart. Sulfur gives out a rotten egg-like smell. This should give you a heads up that there might be some sulfuric acid leaking out of your battery.
What does it mean when your battery is bubbling?
If you hear some sort of bubbling sound in the batteries, it could indicate that they have been overcharged.
Why Do My New Golf Cart Batteries Smell Like Rotten Eggs?
Deep-cycle Flooded Lead-Acid (FLA) batteries incorporate a specific kind of technology that produces certain chemical reactions. Within the battery, there are lead plates submerged in an electrolyte solution. This solution consists of sulfuric acid and water, and once you plug in the charger, it begins a chemical process, causing by-products to be released.
What To Do About The Burning Smell?
First of all, assume that your golf cart isn’t safe to drive. The burning smell could be indicating a problem that needs immediately addressing, and attempting to drive your cart will only make the situation worse.
Why does my golf cart smell?
Golf cart batteries may emit a burning smell due to damaged wiring or a low level of water. If batteries are lacking water, they tend to give off a smell of burning plastic due to the lack of electrolytes. This should be the first thing you check if you can smell burning. If the water level looks fine, then it could be an issue with the wiring, ...
What does hydrogen sulfide smell like?
A by-product of sulfur and water is hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). And unfortunately for us, hydrogen sulfide smells precisely like a sizable batch of rotten eggs.
What does it smell like when you start charging your batteries?
Once you start charging your new batteries, you may find yourself faced with the distinctively un -fresh smells of sulfur, burning, or rotten eggs. Nasty!
How to prevent hydrogen sulfide attack?
Ventilation is your best weapon against the attack of hydrogen sulfide. At golf courses, golf cart fleets tend to be stored in places with air circulation systems installed. These will periodically exchange the air in the ‘cart barn’, keeping it fresh and preventing the build-up of hazardous and combustible gases.
How long does it take for a battery to smell?
Under normal circumstances, this smell will start to taper off after the initial charging cycles. After roughly ten cycles, give or take, the smell should be gone. If the smell persists long past this mark, there may be a fault with your battery, in which case you should consult a mechanic.
Why Is My Battery Smelling Like Rotten Eggs?
When overcharging, a battery will smell like rotten eggs as liquid sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) is broken down by the excess electrical current and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is released . Hydrogen sulfide has the distinct smell of rotten eggs or sulfer.
How Do I Prevent My Battery from Smelling Like Rotten Eggs in the Future?
The easiest way to keep a battery from smelling like rotten eggs is to use a properly sized charger, do not desulfate your battery, and to use a modern 3 or 4-stage smart charger.
Is the Rotten Egg Smell from a Battery Dangerous?
The rotten egg smell from a battery is dangerous in high enough concentrations and with inadequate ventilation. The rotten egg smell is caused by the gas hydrogen sulfide and can cause severe irritation to the throat and sinuses, and even be deadly if it is concentrated highly enough and there is improper ventilation.
Can A New Battery Smell Like Rotten Eggs?
All Modern car batteries are sold fully charged, so if you have been charging your car battery, it could be that you are over charging it.
Why do car batteries smell?
This smell happens when the battery overheats due to it not holding a charge given to it by a battery charger or the alternator.
What does it mean when a battery smells like eggs?
During this heating process, the sulfuric acid within your battery turns into a gas form of hydrogen sulfide, and that is the egg smell you could be smelling if you are charging your battery.
What happens when a car battery goes bad?
When a car battery goes bad, it can emit Hydrogen Sulfide. Anything sulfur-related is often described as smelling like rotten eggs.
Why can't a battery store charge?
The battery cannot store the charge given to it by the alternator or a battery charger because the plates within the positive and negative terminals are already corroded or don’t have enough water and sulfuric acid within them to hold the charge.
Why does my catalytic converter smell like sulfur?
The sulfur egg smell that you may notice is the remanence of the combustion process in your engine that the exhaust is trying to remove from your car.
What happens when a car is switched off?
When the car is switched off, the alternator stops working, and the battery takes over. If you see dim lights or lights that dim very quickly, this is your sign that the battery may need replacing.
Why Does Overcharging my Car Battery Cause a Rotten Egg Smell?
During the charging process, your battery charger is sending an electrical current through your car battery’s electrolyte solution. Your car battery is attempting to convert this electrical energy from the charger into stored chemical energy within the battery itself.
How to keep battery charger from sparking?
Also, always keep your battery charger unplugged while you connect to the battery terminals, and unplug the charger before removing them after a charge. This will eliminate the sparking that occurs when you make that last connection and keep you from igniting any hydrogen gas or hydrogen sulfide.
How to get a battery to overcharge?
Using an old school charger is an easy way to get your battery to overcharge and release hydrogen sulfide. The initial part of the charge will likely be uneventful, but as the battery slows down its absorption rate and the charger continues to pump in the amps regardless, overcharging will occur.
What is an old school charger?
Using an old school charger is an easy way to get your battery to overcharge and release hydrogen sulfide.
How many amps should a car battery charge?
Car batteries typically have an amp hour equivalency of about 50-80AH. A good rule of thumb is to keep your peak charging amps at about 10% or less of the total AH of the battery being charged. I would never exceed 10amps for a car battery, and in fact, I generally stay at 6 or below.
Why does my car battery smell like rotten eggs?
A car battery will smell like rotten eggs or sulfur due to overcharging and the release of hydrogen sulfide. Typically, it will just cause throat irritation but in large enough concentrations hydrogen sulfide can be lethal. There is only one “good” reason why your car battery smells like rotten eggs and we’ll cover that below.
What is equalization in batteries?
Now, if you’re really into battery maintenance, there is a thing called “equalization” or “desulfation”. Both of which are basically a controlled overcharge to either bring the individual cells to an equal state or to agitate and break off any sulfation that has occurred on the plates.
