2003 Ezgo electric TXT sluggish after 10-15 mins riding

moaction

I just got a 2003 TXT electric cart that's pulls sluggish after 10-15mins riding. I'm new to carts so I need a little help. Batteries have been charged overnight so they are fully charged. I check all the batteries and they are good. They are 9 months old. Rear end is not making a popping sound but sounds like it's slipping. I can't find much online but the rear is direct drive with a slip on coupler on the motor side and splines on the gear side from what I can find.

I plan to clean the batteries and all cable ends to see if that helps. Next step will be replacing 6ga cables with 4ga at some point.

I just need a little troubleshooting direction.

BGW

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JohnnieB

Welcome to BGW!

Mechanical slippage would most likely occur immediately rather than waiting 10-15 minutes, so I suspect the problem is electrical.

What is the battery pack voltage about 12 hours after the charger shuts-off?
It should be 38.2V for a 36V battery pack and each battery should be 6.37V and all six should be within 0.1V of each other.

What is the battery pack voltage when the cart becomes sluggish?
Whatever the voltage is, the batteries should still be within about 0.1V of each other.

When cart is sluggish, are any of the cables or components hot?

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Which drive system do you have?
If the F/R control is next to your right knee, you have a Series cart.
If the F/R control is a rocker switch on the dash and there is a Run/Tow switch on the controller cover, you have a PDS cart.

moaction

It's a series cart. The F/R control is by my right knee. What's the difference between the carts?

I just cleaned the battery ends and cables ran it for about 20 mins. It seems to be better than before. I checked all the batteries and they are all coming up 6v and a total of 36v. My reader could be wrong but the led battery meter on the cart dropped 3bars in the time I was testing.

Putting it on charge again.

lawnlake

I had the same problem, one of my batteries was toast. very easy way to tell is with a load tester.

scottyb

Basically a reading of 36v is empty. 38.2 is full. This is the reading you should have 12 hours after the charger shuts off. By then the charge has settled and the amount you read is what the batteries can hold. The next test is to attach a meter and drive, see what the pack drops to under load. A drop of more than 4-5 volts uphill indicates battery or conductor troubles.

moaction

Just pulled the charger off. Pack is coming at 39.7 and 6.6 for each battery. Will check everything again tomorrow. Did notice that the batteries bubble when whether charging or not. I know this is fine when it's charging but not sure when not on the charger.

JohnnieB

Different motors, different speed controllers and different wiring in the drive system. Body, chassis, suspension, steering, brakes, battery pack and drive train (except motor) are pretty much the same.

A series cart has a series wound motor, a mechanical F/R switch that switches the direction of the high current flowing through the stator windings to make motor spin in opposite direction for reverse and the solenoid is activated by a stand-alone circuit.

A PDS (Precision rive System) cart has a sepex (SEParately EXcited) motor (aka shunt or parallel wound), the direction of current flow through the field (stator) windings is switched within the controller and the solenoid is also activated by the controller.

When asking questions about your cart, always mention the drive type.

For a "Full" charge, the on-charge voltage should reach about 45V for a 36V battery pack.
If it isn't, the battery pack is sick, the charger is sick, or the charge was terminated prematurely.

What charger do you have? (A picture of the faceplate will suffice)

Also, to maintain a electric golf cart, you will need a DMM (Digital Multi-Meter)
An inexpensive one from a department store chain will suffice.

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Your cart is running, but not running right for very long, so the problem is most likely in the power supply. Either the batteries aren't getting charged or are not holding their charge or the available energy isn't being delivered to the motor consistently.

The batteries may only be 9 months old, but it only takes one bad cell to cause the symptoms described and even new batteries fail and improper care can wipe out a good set of batteries in an amazingly short period of time.

The battery pack is the heart of an electric golf cart, so taking care of it properly is a high priority.

To get an overview of proper battery maintenance, go to: http://www.cartsunlimited.net/How_Batteries_Work.html
And read everything with the word "Battery" in the title.

Also download the Owner, Service and Parts manuals from this post in the Stickies at the top of this forum. They are the three .pdf files near the top.
http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...g-manuals.html

moaction

The charger is a powerwise and it's putting out 45volts. I've resigned myself that it's something with the battery pack. I've got a DMM already so I just need to test with it. I've been using the Power Probe meter but I'm use to working with 12v systems and not 6v so I'm not sure what to expect.

It's hard to troubleshoot something without a good baseline. I appreciate all the help JohnnieB.

JohnnieB

There are at least four different powerwise chargers that have been supplied wit EZGO carts over the years. (Powerwise, Powerwise +, Powerwise II and Powerwise QE.)
Then there are the various Totalcharge and Lester brands, plus some aftermarket ones.

If it weighs about 25 pounds and has an ammeter, (the first three listed) it is 100% repairable if it malfunctions.
If it has lights instead of an ammeter, (the Powerwise QE) it is a throwaway when it malfunctions.

Here is a Open Circuit Voltage vs State of Charge chart for deep-cycle lead-acid wet-cell batteries.
The voltages listed are taken about 12 hours after the charger turns off automatically.
(The typical 36V automatic charger turns off in the 44V to 46V range and it takes several hours for the surface charge to deplete for an accurate SoC reading)

Since you've worked on 12V systems, you shouldn't have much trouble working on a 36V system.

Attached Images

StateofChargeChart.jpg (53.8 KB, 0 views)

moaction

The charger has the ammeter on it. I did hydrometer test on all the cells today. On 6 cells I got 1.250 or below which the meter says is fair. All the others I got 1.275-1.300 which good.

I've learned more about batteries in few days than I ever wanted to know. The joys of tinkering on something.