Powerdrive 3 charger problem

[Carts4you]

Thank you all for all the info.

First the relay board is for a powerdrive 3 charger. Second, once the rectifier was changed, it stopped generating smoke and also activating when plugged only to the AC outlet. Right now, once we plug in the charger and relay closes, the ammeter needle only vibrates and does not go to charging mode.

Sergio the charger did turn on before changing the rectifier as soon as AC current was connected, without connecting it to the cart. What could cause this and also the ammeter needle to vibrate as it is doing?

[Sergio]

The only reason the charger activated when You plugged to AC was because the relay was jumped.

You mentioned the jumper was removed already so I assume that issue went away when You did that.

If the activation issue continued after you removed the jumper, the relay is bad (welded contacts).

When the relay jumper was in place, The ammeter moving without the DC cord being plugged to the cart can only happen if the ammeter is either wired wrong or you have a short in the DC cable itself.

You may want to inspect the DC cable and do some continuity tests to make sure none of the wires are shorting against each other.

If You are testing on a DS cart, check the fuse on the negative wire behind the charger receptacle.

If that fuse is blown, the relay will close, it will not charge and the ammeter will actually go negative.

If it is a Precedent, the SCR inside the OBC is bad.

This is also assuming the rectifier is working, You can measure the voltage output of the charger between the rectifier + and - tabs to make sure it is working.