Portable Chgr 28115 puzzling charging problem

Steamboat_Willie

I'm troubleshooting a Powerwise 28115 G04 portable charger and seem to have a puzzling and intriguing charging problem. When the charger suddenly stopped charging the golf cart I viewed some of the assorted troubleshooting videos on Youtube and after verifying all of their suggested continuity checks, diodes, fuse, wiring, etc, I came to the same conclusion (as they did) that the control board was most likely defective. THus I replaced the board with a new one.

However, with the new board installed, when connecting the charger to the golf cart the relay still does NOT close thus still exhibiting the SAME problem as before. As suggested in some of the videos, I jumpered the relay and I DO get a solid +38V DC coming out (at the charging connector). When connecting to the cart (with the relay-jumper still in place), the ammeter indicates that it is drawing expected charging current and I could see with my voltmeter that each 6V cell in the bank was rising in voltage.

So I'm a bit stumped. What's left? What else can I look for that might be causing this problem? Of the 6 batteries in the bank, 2 of them were at +6.2V and the remaining 4 were at +4.3 V and charging. Any suggestions? (My apologies if this is an obvious one.)

BGW

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crash test dummy

like all electronics you may have gotten a "new" bad one
try another one and return the bad one

Mooncarter

Could you tell us about your batteries? If I am understanding you, with the jumper in place the charger is working correctly?

JohnnieB

The pack voltages only add up to 29.6V and that might not be enough to turn charger on. Probably is, but some control boards take more than others to trigger the relay.

What is the voltage between the red and black wires on the control board when charger is plugged into cart? (With the pack voltage so close, it wouldn't take much resistance in the battery sense circuit to keep it below the trigger point)

Also, the open circuit VDC output seems low. (Relay jumpered, but not plugged into cart) If the transformer and capacitor are good, there ought to be about 45VAC on the anode of each diode. (Secondary voltage is 90VAC, but is center tapped)

What does the ammeter read? ought to be about 20A.

I'd let the batteries charge for a couple hours with relay jumpered, then remove jumper and see if the relay closes when the pack is well above 30V.

Steamboat_Willie

Will do.