l bagan

l bagan · 07-20-2010, 02:19 PM

After charger turns off batteries are too hot to touch. Water levels fine, cables clean and tight and total voltage 38v+. Brake not engaged during charge and no accessory options on cart. What's going on!

rabbitreborn · 07-20-2010, 08:15 PM

OK, this is EXTREMELY rare, BUT..... There is a term in the battery industry called "Thermal Runaway" . After recieving a "full" charge overnight, the batteries are so hot you feel you could cook an egg on them, and the smell of sulfur in the air is so potent, you want to gag. It normally happens within the first year of life of a new set. Basically you would have to have a Discharge test done on your batteries to find out if that is what is happening (and hopefully the tech you have perform the test is knowledgbale regarding this since so many are not). Basically what happens is this:

You charge the cart overnight.
Wake in the morning to find that the charger is still running after 12 hours so you let it go......
The batteries are boiling and the smell of sulfur is strong.....
After 16 hours, the charger shuts off so you go for a ride.....
within a half hour of pedal down time, the cart slows to a crawl (feels like it needs a charge).
You get it home, and discover that the charger wants to run for another 16 hours......

Now, when the tech does his discharge test:
He charges the cart overnight (in reality, it chargers til the charger shuts down at 16 hours)
Comes in the next morning and unplugs the charger and plugs it back in.
20 minutes later he comes back and the Amp Gauge is sitting on 8-12 AMPs still....
He scratches his head a bit suspects that the charge cycle didn't run right the night before and decides to run the test anyway......
Hooks up the Discharge Machine and turns it on.......
120 (+/-) minutes later the Discharge machine shuts down
Now he's really scratching his head...... Notices the batteries are hot as an oven..... calls his battery distributer (who likely also scratches his head as well), then they decide to replace the batteries under warranty......

In 10 years of working on Golf Carts (and please understand I used to work for E-Z-GO as a Factory Branch Tech so I worked on carts at approximately 40+ golf courses every week) and literally being responsible for thousands of carts over that time period, I have personally seen this happen a grand total of 7 times........

l bagan · 07-22-2010, 09:09 PM

Connected another Power Wise charger and full charge was completed with no hot battery problems. Can you suggest trouble shooting guide on this charger? model 28115 Gox ser 48155

07-20-2010, 02:19 PM	#1
l bagan Not Yet Wild Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 5	l bagan After charger turns off batteries are too hot to touch. Water levels fine, cables clean and tight and total voltage 38v+. Brake not engaged during charge and no accessory options on cart. What's going on!
l bagan Not Yet Wild Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 5

07-20-2010, 08:15 PM	#2
rabbitreborn Gone Wild Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Central Florida Posts: 2,757	Re: l bagan OK, this is EXTREMELY rare, BUT..... There is a term in the battery industry called "Thermal Runaway" . After recieving a "full" charge overnight, the batteries are so hot you feel you could cook an egg on them, and the smell of sulfur in the air is so potent, you want to gag. It normally happens within the first year of life of a new set. Basically you would have to have a Discharge test done on your batteries to find out if that is what is happening (and hopefully the tech you have perform the test is knowledgbale regarding this since so many are not). Basically what happens is this: You charge the cart overnight. Wake in the morning to find that the charger is still running after 12 hours so you let it go...... The batteries are boiling and the smell of sulfur is strong..... After 16 hours, the charger shuts off so you go for a ride..... within a half hour of pedal down time, the cart slows to a crawl (feels like it needs a charge). You get it home, and discover that the charger wants to run for another 16 hours...... Now, when the tech does his discharge test: He charges the cart overnight (in reality, it chargers til the charger shuts down at 16 hours) Comes in the next morning and unplugs the charger and plugs it back in. 20 minutes later he comes back and the Amp Gauge is sitting on 8-12 AMPs still.... He scratches his head a bit suspects that the charge cycle didn't run right the night before and decides to run the test anyway...... Hooks up the Discharge Machine and turns it on....... 120 (+/-) minutes later the Discharge machine shuts down Now he's really scratching his head...... Notices the batteries are hot as an oven..... calls his battery distributer (who likely also scratches his head as well), then they decide to replace the batteries under warranty...... In 10 years of working on Golf Carts (and please understand I used to work for E-Z-GO as a Factory Branch Tech so I worked on carts at approximately 40+ golf courses every week) and literally being responsible for thousands of carts over that time period, I have personally seen this happen a grand total of 7 times........

07-22-2010, 09:09 PM	#3
l bagan Not Yet Wild Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 5	Re: l bagan Connected another Power Wise charger and full charge was completed with no hot battery problems. Can you suggest trouble shooting guide on this charger? model 28115 Gox ser 48155
l bagan Not Yet Wild Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 5

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