Charging cart with a generator

CROWN MAN

When I plug my cart in to be charged the meter on the charger goes into the red @ 30amps. I have to lower the idle on generator for it to go down.

At what amps should the charger at?

BGW

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jdunmyer

Check the voltage output on the generator, it should be between about 110 and 125 volts AC. The charger shouldn't much care if it's powered by the line or from a generator.

I will add that a Honda 1000 inverter genset will not power the charger at first. If you connect the charger to a larger genset for a half-hour or so, you can then switch to the Honda.

Revolution

Crown man, What generator and charger are you using? I only ask because there are several issues in the design of both the charger and generator that could cause incompatibility. It could as simple as placing a restive load such as a light bulb or small heating element in while charging to solve the problem.

DaveTM

I'm wondering if he's plugging in a cart battery charger into a generator, or if he's charging the cart batteries directly from the generator's DC battery charger option? Just thinking out loud.

CROWN MAN

Its a PowerBoss 5500 & a power wise charger 36v, I plug the cart charger into the outlet.
thanks

Kerrville78028

Are the batteries heavily drained? Have you tried plugging the charger into a wall outlet to see if it acts the same?

DaveTM

What year and model is your cart?

JohnnieB

The DC output Amps of a ferroresonant transformer type charger is directly proportional to the voltage of the AC line input, as well as a couple other factors.

Check the VAC at the generator's AC outlets with only the PW charger attached (and charging the cart at the time).
If it is above 120VAC, the charger will put out more than its typical 21A maximum.

Also, the output of ferroresonant transformer type chargers is very sensitive to the line frequency of the AC line.
If the line frequency is above or below 60Hz, the max amps out will change.

The PW charger is only drawing about 1,140 Watts (9.5A @ 120VAC) from a 5,500W generator, and unless the generator's gas engine has exceptionally good RPM regulation (LE: 3,600 RPM = 60 Hz) and the generator has exceptionally good voltage regulation, both the line frequency and output voltage will be high when lightly loaded.

There is also the possibility the capacitor in the charger is out of spec.
If the max output current is within the nominal range when powered by commercial AC power, the charger itself is okay.

As for the 30A output, if the batteries are 225AH or higher, that is slightly above the recommended 13% of capacity charge rate (29.25A), but well within the max safe rate. If the Amps start decreasing as the pack voltage passes through 42V (or before), the net effect is that the battery pack will charge faster.

DaveTM

Just a note on generators. And I pass this on to you from my Son, who is a engineer and formerly worked with private contractors on programs involved with robotics for the defense industry. Don't ask me what 'cause that's all I know.

However, when I purchased my Honda 2000I generator 2000I that cost twice as much as the others, he said "If you want a generator that gives you a constant uninterrupted flow of power that will not give you power surges, or brown outs for no reason at all, and if you have sensitive equipment hooked up to it, such as laptops or in your case (Dad) your DPI Battery Charger, then buy either a Honda or a Yamaha generator. Trust me....I've been out in the field and have used many different brands of generators and the only one's that have not fried my sensitive equipment have been Honda's or Yamaha's."

Now, I did ask him if there was some chunk of equipment that would mitigate power surges between a "jumpy" generator and a laptop. He only stated that "if my company was to cheap to by a good generator...what do you think the chances of getting that piece of equipment was?" I could go on...but why?

Moral of story.....buy a quality generator.

JohnnieB

The output voltage and line frequency of inverter type generators are far more accurate and stable under varying load conditions than the non-inverter types.

On the other hand, microprocessor controlled chargers like the DPI are less sensitive to input power variations than the ferroresonant transformer type, however if I was going to run any cart battery charger on a portable generator, it would be an inverter type.