2013 Carryall 6 draws on batteries with key on

alchemy

Is that normal? Someone said it's similar to a DS. The gauge will slowly drop maybe .5V over 3 min with the key on and sitting. More over more time I'm not sure yet but I'd assume so. As for amp hrs or usage it doesn't amount to much. It slowly goes back up with the key off but it does actually appear to use up some battery power from the key just being on. I'm guessing if I left the key on it would be dead in a few or couple days.

BGW

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NoleFan4Ever

If there are is a regulator or other key triggered accessories that could be normal. Hard to say for sure with out checking it all out.

alchemy

thank you, it's hard telling what all they did with this cart, more so than accessories I suspect they may have done something to them so they could maintain like 30 of them sitting in a garage by one computer. I'm probably going to have to go over this cart sometime the old fashion way and trace every wire by hand, with a meter.
This thing actually had an electric heater on it which I removed so apparently they were of the type that thinks electric is free and endless. :)

edit: "regulator" yes I was wondering if there is something which regulates the pack voltage if that's what you meant. There was a consistent difference of 1.5V between the reading at the actual pack ends and the wire that goes to the key switch. I spent much time there trying to figure how to wire a volt gauge with the key. I decided to just settle for the 1.5V less since thats all there was but then after installing the gauge it actually reads like .3V difference, weird. I had that with another golf cart and assumed there must be a resistor or something to the gauge wire but now I'm wondering if the gauge wire isn't actually sending SOC or average voltage rather than real time volts? I think something really is drawing on the batteries though but that just makes it harder to figure.

Fairtax4me

Are you checking actual pack voltage, or is that just what the gauge on the dash is displaying?

I would make sure the pack voltage is actually dropping before assuming there id a draw on the pack. A loose or poor connection, or damaged wiring supply or negative side for the dash gauge, could account for a voltage drop over time at the gauge, but may not have any effect on the pack itself. Could also just have a faulty gauge. Verify the voltage at the gauge wires with a separate meter. Compare that to Pack voltage. Also check for voltage on the negative side (red meter on gauge negative, black meter on Pack negative) to check for a poor negative connection. A voltage backup on the negative side will lower the displayed voltage on the gauge. This would be due to high resistance on the negative. A poor connection somewhere or damaged wiring.

alchemy

thanks for the reply
Both. I just installed a digital volt gauge as well. I wired it from the blue wire on the key switch and the original yellow black wire for the gauge and left the original red wire on the gauge off. This had one of those "fuel" bar gauges originally. I just now found something crazy that I'll get to.
After filling the batteries, a complete charge and allowed to sit a few hours a very short drive maybe 400 feet and sitting a few the pack read 51.2 with key off and the gauge initially read 51.3 when the key was turned on (it only comes on with the key). Over about 3 min the gauge was 50.9 and the pack with the multimeter was 50.6.
I just now saw that the gauge does not readily go below 50.6 (after sitting 15 min with the key on while working on something else.) but probably would over time (unless it really is just being regulated). I also saw that the gauge goes haywire with medium accelerating and goes up and down between maybe 49-53. Where is it getting 53 from? I was going down hill in some of that and the auto brakes and brake lights were applying when it would jump up to 51-53. Earlier I saw that with full accell for a couple seconds with the brake on it deflects to 45.5 and holds. That seems good to me. I'm considering changing the gauge wires to the original (always on) which gives the same as pack voltage and adding a switch but I hate doing that. That blue wire on the key switch is really weird. For the sake of this question though, yes both go down with the key on and the batteries seem fine. They range 6.38 to 6.45. The 6.45's are new. (I had to add two "new" to the 6 good batteries I took from my other 36V cart. They are actually 3 years old but only used very briefly and the plates are still pristine.)
I think I'm going to start eliminating small wires on the batteries. There were originally 8 and I've removed 3 with no noticeable changes. I still have 3 small wires on the end neg. and two on the end pos. I know already it needs one smaller neg and positive for it to charge, not sure which ones yet.

WalterM6

That voltage change is caused by the regen circuit. It is actually using the downhill momentum to recharge your batteries and also apply some braking. Part of the mystery solved.

alchemy

Don't tell me I have regen? Seriously? I thought they quit that years ago.

alchemy

Solved, sorta, maybe?
As it turns out I only needed one, maybe 10 gauge, black wire on the negative end of the pack for this thing to run and charge. There were originally 8, not counting the main cables. It had 3 wires on the end negative, 3 red wires on the negative side of battery 3, and two on the end positive. I removed them all except for that one. Now the gauge and pack with multimeter stay .1V different key on or not. It's 50.6V though which is lower than the 51.2 where I started out. Maybe that was superficial or whatever was drawing them down did more so than I thought. It's on the charger now so I'll know by tomorrow if it should be 51.3-51.6 as it had been after charge and stabilizing.
Before removing the wires and after driving it it went from 49.9 back up to 50.6. So that 50.6 must have been a stable point at that time. The pack however read 50.0 with the multimeter and 50.5 with the key off til I removed the wires. One of the smaller wires that was on the end positive apparently ran the headlights, brake lights, turn signals but it must have went thru a relay because that wire was too small for all that. I can do without those items for a while because I mainly use it off road. The other 6 wires I did not see what they did yet.

WalterM6

Yes it's still around. I hate it, if there is going to be any braking I'll do it.

Got a suggestion for you. Add a fuse block like the one from Amazon. Get those wires off the batteries. The batteries will corrode them over time. Start adding them to the fuse block one at a time until you see your problem again and eliminate that circuit.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000THQ0...i-a=B000THQ0CQ

alchemy

I like that fuse box and I agree about all those wires and I think a dealership actually did that. Are you sure I have regen? How can I find out? I considered taking it to a big hill on the road but now I don't have lights