Cushman help please I am a newbie

cheeze

Hey guys my name is Chas and I am an alcoholic(sorry I had to do that). My name is Chas but not so much the alcoholic although I do have that tendancy. I just purchased what I believe a 1979 Cushman Executive cart name plate says Cushman 898322-7910. I have a problem with this cart not charging. The folks I bought the cart from told me they had no problems until their grandchildren came over and rode the cart until it was dead and it took them a month to get the ambition to charge it, to no avail. So when I picked it up I tried to charge the beast and noticed that the charger wouldn't turn on (Lester Electrical 12730). I found a timer on the charger so I bypassed it and it started to sound like it was charging, but I am getting nothing on the ammeter. I let this thing charge for about 8 hours and I am not getting any results other that the charge guage on the cart does read that it is charging when I turn the key on, however still nothing on the ammeter. How can I tell if my charger is junk or the batteries? Thanks in advance for any help I tried to be as descripive as I could.

Again thanks
Chas

scottyb

Sorry chas, I guess the batteries are junk. Even a good set cannot take being run below recommended voltages and left to sit like that!? The charger will not come on if the readings are too low. You can try to recharge two at a time with a 12v auto type charger but I don't know how much luck you will have....

cheeze

Thanks for the quick reply. Actually as we speak I have two twelve volt car chargers on four of the batteries just to see if I can get anything. I just don't understand I am getting the typical humming from the charger but even with dead batteries I would have thought the ammeter would have at least twiched. I am still leaning towards the batteries though. The buld date on the batteries is 9-6 but I don't know if that is 2006 or 1996 or hell 1986(doubt that)

rusty

Welcome to the forum cheeze....................

Yep, cart is a 79, batteries are probably 06.

Let us know what the results are after the charging with the 12 volt chargers.

cheeze

Out of curiosity what does the 7910 mean in the model #. I actually guessed at the year since 79 was in the model #? I will keep you guys posted, thanks

rusty

79 is of course the year and the 10 is the production series, which by the way, really never meant any significant model series. You just had to be there know Cushman history.

cheeze

Fair enough thanks

scottyb

I am not as familiar as you with the inner workings of that charger. They are designed to not come on unless they 'see' a certain minimum amount of voltage. So maybe after you charge up with the 12v you can tell us what type of voltage readings you are getting on the individual batteries as well as the whole pack.

ogre'sdad

Take your volt meter on the DC scale and check the charger voltage out put to see if you have approx 42 volts if not you may have diode problems. Welcome to the forum, Randy

cheeze

Ok I checked the voltage and got nothing untill I bypassed the timer. After I bypassed the timer I got 42 volts and I let the batteries charge overnight and still nothing. I think it is safe to say yes sir I need batteries. Thanks for your help guys.