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Lester Battery Charger Guide: Links Charger vs. Summit Charger

Lester Battery Chargers:

 

Lester Electrical has been manufacturing US made battery chargers for the Past 50 Years. They specialize in making the highest-quality and longest-lasting chargers. The latest and greatest golf cart charger models are the Lester Links Battery Charger and the Lester Summit Battery Charger. These new models will replace any of Lester's older golf cart chargers (i.e., Lestronic, Lestermatic, etc.), but will also replace any original golf cart charger (i.e., EZGO Power Wise, Club Car Power Drive, Yamaha, etc.).

Each of these golf cart chargers are automatic chargers, so they will charge your batteries until they're fully charged and then stop charging. In addition, both the Links and Summit Series chargers have an advanced "winter storage mode" feature that allows snowbirds and vacationers to leave town without the batteries dying or losing their charge. You can literally leave the charger plugged in all the time and it will charge your batteries for months without any neighbor assistance. This "battery healthy" feature is completely unique to Lester battery chargers (Click Here for more on "storage mode").

Finally, each charger model comes with a full 2 year manufacturer's warranty. So if there are any issues with your charger, you will absolutely be taken care of (read here for the Lester Warranty Statement). Read below to learn more about the specifics of each of the Links and Summit models.

 

Lester Links Battery Charger:

Lester Links Battery Charger

The Lester Links battery charger is your heavy-duty automatic battery charger. Most golf cart owners have a familiarity with this type of charger. It's a classic. It's got a girth to it and weighs between 24 and 36 pounds, depending on the model. In addition, primarily the Links Series charger is an "off-board" or shelf charger, so usually a good spot to store it is on a shelf in the garage or shed. Also, this charger is fully repairable. So if 10 years pass and something's not working right, you can unscrew the case and swap out a fuse, relay or even transformer.

The Links charger can be configured with any of the golf cart charger plugs (see here for Picking the Right Charger Plug). It comes preset for wet cell lead acid batteries, but can also be user configured to charge AGM batteries as well. One of the only drawbacks is that the Links charger is not waterproof, so you will want to keep it indoors if it starts to rain or snow.

Overall, the Links Series Charger is reliable, charges very quickly and makes for a great replacement for any original golf cart charger (Club Car Powerdrive, EZ-GO Powerwise, Yamaha, etc.).

See here to buy one of our New Lester Links Golf Cart Chargers.

 

Lester Summit Battery Charger:

 

The Lester Summit battery charger is a high frequency charger. It is made with the newest golf cart charger technology available. It has all the bells and whistles as the Links Series charger, and can be configured with any of the golf cart plugs, but it has a few differences. First, it is significantly lighter and weighs roughly 12 pounds. Second, it can be purchased as a "shelf" or "portable" charger but it can also be purchased as an "onboard" or "builtin" charger that can be easily installed on any golf cart. This is a nice feature for those that drive their golf cart around on large properties. The Summit charger is always available if the batteries start to die.

Third, the Summit charger is preset for wet cell lead acid batteries and can only be configured for AGMs by the factory, not by the user. Fourth, the Summit battery charger is water resistant because it is completely sealed. Fifth, the charger can be used in the US as well as abroad as it can take 100-230 VAC. The main drawback of the Summit charger is that, unlike the Links charger, internal parts cannot be swapped out down the line as it is a fully sealed unit.

In sum, the Summit charger is also a good option to replace any of the original golf cart charger models. But, it is perfect for a golf cart owner who needs a waterproof/onboard unit, needs a lighter charger or lives in a country with 220 volt outlets. 

See here to purchase one of our New Lester Summit Golf Cart Chargers.

 

Lester Charging Phases (Links & Summit Series Chargers):

Here's how they work: You plug the Links or Summit charger into your golf cart and it will charge the batteries until they are fully charged and then stop charging. The charging sequence begins with a slow blinking yellow light, which is the "bulk/start" of the charging phase. After a period of time (which completely depends on the quality of the batteries in addition to how discharged the batteries are at a given time), the charger starts showing a fast blinking yellow light, which is the "absorption/plateau" phase, meaning that the batteries are 80% charged.

Next the charger will likely show a solid yellow light, where the charger has finished its charging cycle. After the series of yellow lights, the charger will show a slow blinking green light, then a fast blinking green light, and then finally a solid green light. This is the "equalization" phase where the batteries are equalizing to 100% across the set of batteries. The solid green light means that the batteries are fully charged and you are good to go.

Lester Summit Charger LED Lights

 

Below is an excerpt from the Lester Links/Summit charger manual on the charging phases:

Lester Charger Charging Sequences

 

Below is an excerpt from the Lester Summit/Links charger manual on the various fault lights. 

Lester Battery Charger Fault Light

 


  

Have Additional Lester Charger Questions?

We sell golf cart chargers for all golf carts, including Club Car Chargers, EZ-GO Chargers and Yamaha Chargers.

We also stock chargers for other machines, including any 24 Volt Charger, 36 Volt Charger or 48 Volt Charger.

Please take a look at our Golf Cart Battery Charger Frequently Asked Questions for more charger and battery specific questions or our other resources.  

If these links don't help, you can always give us a call at 1-800-401-2934 or send us an email at Support@GolfCartGarage.com and we'll get you taken care of.