Help with a battery condition meter? (Club car xlt 810-e)

Timxyz

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone might have any experience with the "Battery condition indicator" which is installed on a 2008 Club car 810-e ? I would appreciate any advice concerning a problem that I'm having with it.

My main question is this: Is this indicator connected in any way to the on-board computer (OBC)?

My father-in-law was having trouble with the charging system and I offered to take a look at it. I realized that the problem simply seems to be that the meter is telling him that the car isn't fully charged when it actually is.

The indicator is a red led bar-graph on the left hand side dashboard under the steering wheel. It seems to be giving random readings which don't seem to relate to the actual charge on the battery bank (a 48 volt system).

I thought that the indicator wasn't a factory installed part since I couldn't seem to find any references to it online, but I did finally see it listed in the owners manual on page 6 as part number 7 in the diagram.

The meter seems to fluctuate between different charge levels but mostly just flashes the lowest two led segments in an alternating pattern. It seems to do this even when the key switch is turned off and the key is removed.

When I first started looking at the car I was thinking that the meter was a specialized part that was giving some sort of error code when it was flashing. Now I think that its just a simple (defective) three lead voltmeter that can be purchased almost anywhere for around eight dollars. Could anyone confirm this before I start to mess with the charging system? The last thing that I want to do is tear down the dash and get involved with the on-board-computer for no reason or, worse yet, mess something up that's more complicated than it first seems.

The car always seems to be charged at around 50 volts and the batteries seem to be good. The flashing yellow battery warning light never seems to come on. I think that the charging system is actually working as it should. My father in law was concerned that the charger was shutting off too soon and too much. He would drive it for about 1/4 to 1/2 hour and then charge it because the battery condition meter would say that the batteries were half charged or lower. I haven't driven the car enough yet to actually get a feel for what is going on with it.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I really appreciate any advice or insight that you might have.

Tim

BGW

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NoleFan4Ever

Just the amber warning light is triggered off the OBC. The gauge you refer to is notorious for being inaccurate. Most people replace them and put a true digital gauge in.

If you want to test it out for him, get your digital volt meter and attach it to the pack, then lay it up on the seat as he rides. Then he can confirm the SOC.

Timxyz

Thank you NoteFan4Ever.

Thant's great news. Just by luck I have a digital meter that seems close to the same size. I'm not sure of it's max voltage rating though,
That's good advice for measuring the pack charge. Seems to be the best way to see what's going on.

I wonder why the gauge seems to be turned on even when the switch is off. Is this normal?

Thanks for the reply. You're awesome!
Regards,
Tim

NoleFan4Ever

If it is ran right to your pack and not triggered by the switch, that would be correct. A visual inspection should reveal it.

Timxyz

Thank you. I'll be doing that today.

Take care.

Timxyz

I did a lot of experimenting and took a lot of readings and have decided without a doubt
that the battery condition meter was faulty. Readings were all over the place and didn't reflect the battery bank voltage at all. I ordered a digital replacement that was cheap but looked exactly the same as ones that were three times the price. Trustworthy? I don't know.

Seems that the best answer is to have a dependable Multi-meter and read directly from the two sides of the battery bank.

The meter is connected to the battery bank full time. The two wires go through the wiring harness to the back of the car and are not connected to the pwr switch. Sort of an odd set up, but I guess when you have such a huge bank of batteries that get charged every day a little parasitic draw doesn't hurt that much?

Another odd thing is the fact that I can't find any schematic that has the condition meter in it. It seems like it was some sort of after the fact installation.




Thanks for all of the help.
Regards,
Tim

NoleFan4Ever

All of your points above are correct.

TahoeDawgZ71

That's the best thing you could have done. But to answer your question about it staying on all the time, that's the way the factory wires them. It is normal.

EEProf

Tim,

Thanks for confirming that (on all the time), it bothered me but I agree, it's just a tiny daily draw from a huge bank.

Anyway, how does it work? The manual says it is a 10-segment LED, but I only see one segment lit. Does that one segment move left as the batteries deplete?

Thanks!