1996 DS 48V questions

[TahoeDawgZ71]

I'm not so sure you need a relay..... Could be the OBC. If it were me here's what I would do.... Charge the cart up til you got to a good voltage for testing. 38 volts isn't enough. You need to be more around 48. Charge it for 3-4 hours or so like you've been doing and hook the relay back up like it's supposed to be. Locate the sense lead fuse. It's in a yellow fuse holder behind the charger receptacle. One side of it runs down into the wire loom that runs towards your OBC, the other side runs into the charger receptacle. Pull the fuse out and check it with an ohm meter to make sure it's good. If it's good, put it back into the side of the fuse holder that runs into the OBC. Plug charger into cart. Use a jumper wire to touch the end of the fuse to the main negative battery terminal. By doing this, you are manually energizing the relay. This is a function the OBC should provide but may not be doing because it may have crapped out on you. If the relay clicks and the charger turns on, replace the OBC. If the relay still doesn't click, check all wiring. Especially the red wire on the #1 battery that comes from the charger receptacle. Give the grey sense lead wire a good tug and make sure it's not internally broken in the charger receptacle. If all of that looks good, then I'll believe you need a charger relay.

[jp3872]

I had already ordered the relay (cheap on Ebay) and have it installed. I plugged in the charger and nothing happened. I checked the fuse and its good plus did the jumper wire thing, not seeing it change. I then checked the battery pack (been off charge a full week) and I still have 50.3 volts. Drove around a few miles on and off road and still have 48.6 volts. Do I need to be lower for it to charge?

I am actually surprised it is holding a charge. The cart has 2007 Trojan batteries in it and they were low on volts and water with one or two having plates exposed. I put distilled water in until the plates were covered and charged it totally expecting to replace the batteries but they seem to be ok. Topped off water, no issues so far. If the OBC is bad, do I need to replace it or can I buy a different charger? I thought I read one that charged without using the OBC. I plan on possibly doing a 36V motor and a better controller and cables in the future for higher road speed (looking for 25). Thanks for the help so far. Total noob with golf carts and my one knowledgeable friend only deals with gas carts.

[mrgolf]

48.6 volts is only about 50% state of charge. Get those batteries charged before you drive the cart again. You may need to reset the obc. Check the stickys for instructions.