Ground wire and computer possibly affecting the battery light and charging

MSCG

I have a 2003 club car DS that i just put in all new batteries, all new 4 gauge cables and an upgraded motor. Cart seems to run great however I have a battery light flashing an error and the cart only seams to charge for 30 - 40 minutes when plugged in. I have not had the opportunity to drive it more than a couple miles prior to recharging.

When I upgraded to the 4 gauge wires the connector for the ground wire would not fit through the hole in the fire wall (I later discovered is the computer). Os there any chance it somehow senses the ground through the cable and is causing me problems? I hate to cut a brand new connector off but could if necessary to pass through the hole in the computer.

thanks in advance.

BGW

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crash test dummy

welcome to BGW

yes the neg pack wire has to go through the OBC for the cart to properly charge
you will have to use a 6ga wire to go through the OBC
when you reinstall the 6ga wire do a OBC reset and cart should charge correctly

mrgolf

Scott Gross, a local welding supply store has 2 ga welding cable that will fit through the hole in the obc. It is very fine stranded.

crash test dummy

are you sure ? i always thought wire size is outside diameter
cable size chart

jakesnake27

Welcome MSCG!

I think Scottyb (cartsunlimited) sells a bolt that goes through the hole in the OBC. The cable then bolts to each end. And yes, the cable must go through that hole or it will not charge properly...

mrgolf

C T D,

I think you may be correct, except the wire is the size, not the insulating, covering. This wire has a soft thin covering.

Swan

use both wires : the old 6 ga for the obc and the 4 ga to go around it .

or yes cut and solder the end on after you pass though the obc

or get a 3-4" 5/16 brass bolt, 2 rubber washers, 2 metal flat washers ,2 lock washers and 4 nuts. cut head of bolt ,shrink tube or electric tape center of bolt and install in the obc

MSCG

Thanks so much for the responses this forum has been a great source of information.

:-)

Sergio

I think You should have a single wire going thru the OBC or a STUD, and here is why:

The club car service manual describes the function of the OBC as:

I don't know if the OBC has always worked this way, maybe someone else can chime in and tell us what year this verbiage first appeared in the service manuals.

For the Club Car claim above to be correct, the OBC must be able to measure the current being drawn from the battery.

The only way that can happen is by the OBC sensing the current going thru the hall effect sensor (hole) in the middle of the OBC.

If a second wire is run parallel to the one going thru the OBC, the amount of current drawn from the battery will be split according to ohms law.

A 4ga wire has about 1/2 of the resistance of a 6ga wire. A 2ga wire has about 1/3 of the resistance of a 6ga wire.

The current will be inversely proportional to the resistance, so the lower the resistance, the higher the current.

Assuming a 60amp draw during cruising speed and a 4ga wire in addition to the 6ga thru the OBC, the current will be split:
6ga wire = 20amps
4ga wire = 40 amps

So the OBC will only know about the 20amps that it could measure.

I assume this information is used during the 2nd phase of the charging process (absorption) to know how long it needs to run.

I am sure there are so many variables involved on how each individual user runs their cart as to be near impossible to describe what if any ill effects will it have by not using the system the way it was designed.

but, why take a chance?

Install the stud, it is really simple.

I got my parts from lowes....

Attached Images

obc-stud.jpg (696.0 KB, 0 views)

jakesnake27

I agree with Sergio, I've never liked the idea of one going through and another looping around...