36 volt battery meter/ bad charger?

Gibb

I just installed a 36v battery meter on my PDS last night and when I was done with the install I noticed the meter was pegged out past the chg and past the red. I had the charger unplugged and the RUN T/M switch to T/M while doing the install. Plugged the charger back in, switched back to run and watched the gauge climb past the red. This morning I checked it and its on chg where it should be. Is that normal or could my charger be over charging ? Thanks

Pic of battery meter

BGW

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JohnnieB

Your charger is almost certainly not overcharging your battery pack.
A typical 36V golf cart charger shuts off automatically when the on-charge voltage climbs into the 44V to 46V range.

The meter you have is an expanded scale voltmeter and the pack voltage when the needle is pointing to "F" should be about 38.2V (100% SoC) and about 36.3V (50% SoC) when it is pointing to "E", but depending on the application the meter was designed for, it might be higher for "E".

You can check the accuracy of your meter by measuring the pack voltage with a DVM.
In fact, you can "Calibrate" by scribing lines on the faceplate at 100% and the other SoC percentages that you want.

Gibb

Thanks there JohnnieB,
I'll be doing some calibrating this week I see...

One more question, Is it bad to go under 50% SoC often?

JohnnieB

Not bad, Deadly.
At least for the batteries.

Never, ever discharge them below 50%. (You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes, but avoid it if possible.)
Many cart owners avoid going below 60% and some try to stay above 70%.
Also, never let batteries set for prolonged periods of time in a discharged or partially discharged state.

How far the batteries are discharged depends on how long your trips are and the higher average State of Charge you maintain, the longer your batteries will last.
(Life expectancy, not run-time.)

Batteries should be charged after each use. My charger goes into a float charge mode after the regular charge cycle, so if I'm not actually driving my cart, it is most likely connected to the charger.

Gibb

Well thats all I needed to here!!!

I just checked my pack and Its reeding 36.9v its been on the charger all day. Does that mean I may have a bad battery? Or something else? Guess I'll checkum seperatly...
I'ma green horn here so I'm soking up all I can here. Thanks

scottyb

That is suspiciously low!
Check the individual batteries (even while on charge) look for a low one. You can do this on charge, sitting still, or under load. The later will give the best test.
Scottyb

Token

how did you know what side to connect your + and - to? my gauge has no markings on the back...

Gibb

I unplugged and replugged the charger in about 3 hours ago , just checked them again and the pack is reading 45.5v and individual batts are reading a range from 7.0v to 7.8v and the charger is still on. Not a pro with the DVM so Im not sure if the individual batts are ok at 7.0 7.8.

Hey Token,
Mine was hard to see as well, I could only see the + and if you have the same meter as mine, I just looked and the negative and its is behind the E (for empty) and + behind the F

Muskrat1973

Mine reads between the c and h at 38.22v. Goes up a little into the red during charging.

dawgn86

any reason why you didnt go with a digital LED meter?