Charger cuts back, but stays on

Wunderpar

I have a '99 club car,with new batteries.
The charger is a Powerdrive charger,model 17930.
When the charge is first connected,it goes to about 20-30 amps,and slowly decreases to 5 amps and stays there.
It will not turn off no matter how long it stays on.
The battery voltages are 8.60 to 8.61 after charger is unplugged and sitting unused for 3 hours.
Total voltage of all batteries is 51.61 volts.
All batteries except 1 read 8.60volts,and one battery reads 8.61.
This high one is nearest the ground terminal.
All water levels are the same,and within spec.
Cables are new,clean, and snug.
I dont currently have a spec. gravity tester but will have one tomorrow.
With voltages this close,I would expect the SG to be very close.
Could the charger be performing a balancing charge,or is this a malfunction that could overcharge batteries?
This was bought used,so I do not know the history of this cart.
Thanks in advance for all help on this matter.

BGW

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jjance

To start, how can you say that it starts charging at 20-30 amps when the meter only goes to 15Amps? How does it run with the voltages you mentioned? And did you measure the voltage while charging?

mrgolf

My older charger goes to either 20 or 30 amp. It is a power drive charger.

What you need to do is make sure the obc has not been bypassed.

Wunderpar

I was wrong.Not 30 amps,15 amps.
I don't trust my eyes anymore.XXXX Bifocals!!
I have reset the OBC,and the charger will not turn off.
It drops to approximately 5 amps,and stays there.
Isn't it supposed to turn off after 16 hours?
Any help on this problem will be greatly appreciated.

scottyb

Measure the total pack voltage. The charger is looking for a pack voltage of 58-63v depending upon the model. The pack is only reaching 52v so I suspect weak batteries that may need to be replaced.
If 16 hours has passed charging, shut it off and let it sit 12-24 hours.
Then retest voltage (pack and individual) and report here.
A hydrometer test at this point would allow you to identify any cells that are 20 points lower than the rest. Low cells are potential failure points.

jjance

To me it sounds like you got a bad charge circuit (OBC + charger) the best thing you can do is to replace it with a DPI charger. It takes a little technical expertise to do. Not sure what the long term effects of overcharging are. It might save you the cost of a new set of batteries.