1996 Club Car questions

Bite N Hold

New guy here and the info is great here! I recently bought a used 96 48V. I was told to charge it for 18 hrs because my charger never shut off under short charges. I did this and now the cart won't run and the yellow/orange battery light on the dash comes on. Any suggestions. I read some posts about similar issues and think it may be a bad OBC??? If that is the case where can I get a cheap one used or new?
Also the guy said it has a high speed motor but when I look at the motor it says 3.75 hp....doesn't seem like high speed to me.
Thanks in advance and here's a round ffor everyone.....

BGW

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jlmurphy

How old are the Batteries? Post pictures of cart and batterie area. Try a volt meter and check each batteries Voltage and post, Check and post the pack voltage. This could be a batterie poroblem also. You should also get a Hydrometer for batteries at the local auto parts. Wait 12 hours after charging to get readings on batteries.

TahoeDawgZ71

Yes the 3.75 is the factory "High Speed" motor

Colbyntx

What charger are you using? How many amps did it show? Just because it was plugged in for 18 hours doesn't mean it was charging. You need to get a digital multimeter, a must for electric cart owners. If you don't have one, it doesn't have to be a real expensive one, harbor frieght has them for $5.00 or $20.00 at wally world. Get the volt reading at each battery and then the entire pack and post your results. Also check the water in your batteries. Only add distilled water to just above the plates. If you are running the charger 18 hours each time you could be boiling water out. Welcome to the forum!

littlebob

Also try to get the pack voltage with a load, a bad connection would show a big drop in voltage when you put a load on it. Just support the rear wheels off the ground first.

Bite N Hold

Thanks for the great replies!! Iwill have to check the ideas you guys posted. Not sure how to check the pack voltage. I will do a search on here to find out how to do that. I will post back to let you know what I find. Hopefully it is just the OBC which seems likes a cheap replacement......if I can find one used.

jlmurphy

Sticky: Resetting the OBC
You may also try to reset the OBC. The instuctions are on the home page. To check Pack voltage check from your first batterie positive to your last batterie negative.

Fishing Dude

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...er-system.html

here is the link

OLD MEC

First welcome to forum. As you will find out you need some basic test equipment to do your own tests and I will explain them below.
Stock motor for 1996 48 volt ( series F&R lever under right leg ) cart is 3.1 hp, while Regen carts ( F&R rocker switch under right leg ) in same year are slightly higher HP.
I would do tests on batterys before doing anything else.
1-with a digital volt meter with at least 50 volt DC scale on meter HARBOR FREIGHT $3-$5. , check across each batterys terminals ( no need to unhook wiring ) and record exact volt readings. Full cahrge is 8.49 on 8 volt battery.
2-Check whole pack voltage ( from passenger rear battery PLUS to drivers rear battery MINUS. This should give you some where around 48-51 volts reading. Full charge should be 50.96 for 48 volt pack in good condition.
NOTE all readings should be taken AT LEAST ONE HOUR AFTER CHARGING and before adding distilled water.
3- I would do another test and that is specific gravity with single float temperature correcting scale HYDROMETER ( NOTE NOT A MULTI FLOAT ANTIFREEZE TESTER ) Auto parts stores $5-$7. to each cell in each battery and record all reading for each battery. ( fully charged readings will be 1.275 )
Often when charger drops to about 4-8 amps and wont turn off its because the OBC is not reading high enough voltage ( some where around 58-62 volts which varies with different units ) and this is normally caused by weak battery or batterys that will not reach full charge?
For some very good reading go to DrBob forum site and read his great explanation of OBC to charger functions.

Bite N Hold

Old Mec- Thanks! Great info....as I was getting ready to do this I thought I might try the gas. Well wouldn't you know the dang thing ran!! Not sure what's going on. OBC going bad, batteries were overcharged due to bad charger or OBC not telling charger that batt's were charged.....not sure what to do now. I am going to test the voltages and will let you guys know what they are!!!