DPI Chargers

[JohnnieB]

Now I see where the conflicting info is coming from.

Last paragraph in section 2 (Starts at bottom of Pg-2 and ends on top on Pg-3) says to plug AC power cord in first while section 6.3 in same manual says to plug charger into cart first. Looks like DPI needs a more competent proofreader.

My 42V DPI sits on a pedestal in the garage, next to where I park my cart and I am intrinsically lazy, so with little exception, it has been plugged into AC power continuously since Nov-2012.

Only had one hiccup so far. AC power flickered off and on several times during a storm and stayed on instead of going out for a few minutes or hours (or days or weeks sometimes) The next time I was in the garage I noticed the RED LEDs flashing, but don't remember which ones. Anyway, I unplugged it from the AC outlet, waited a few moments and plugged back in and it has been working normally ever since.

[JohnnieB]

Good grief, even the conflicts have conflicts in the DPI manuals.

[gornoman]

I am using five of the DPI chargers at work and leave them plugged into the wall outlet constantly. Never an issue.

[oldnavycdr]

This requires clarification.

[coosa]

Originally Posted by oldnavycdr

This requires clarification.

Indeed! I read the instructions that Bkfiremedic posted, but I honestly don't remember if it was just on the web site or if I was able to download a manual from the web site. Wherever I got the info, it was whatever they had available in March of this year, and there was so little info on it that I didn't bother to print it out. It sure looks like to me that they could include an owners manual with a $300 charger, but I got absolutely nothing in the way of instructions; just the charger inside of a box.

If plugging in the DC cord first is wrong, then that could be the cause of the problems I've had. I've done it in that order every time, but that's the way I've always done every battery charger I've ever owned. I don't like the arcing that can occur if the AC side is already on. We have pretty frequent power surges in my area and I hate to leave anything plugged in all the time unless its necessary. If this is what is causing the failure, DPI needs to put warnings all over the charger to make sure that its plugged in using the correct sequence.

Thanks for everyone posting.

[coosa]

I found what was apparently the info I read in March. My model is 1-42C017xxx-xxxx and apparently a Gen 3. Here is what I was going by:

>>>6.3 Connect the DC cord set plug to the charging receptacle by grasping
the plug body or handle and pushing the plug straight into the
receptacle. Then connect charger’s AC cord set to AC power. The
charger will start automatically in approximately three (3) seconds.<<<

It also has the warning below:

>>>WARNING: DO NOT DISCONNECT THE DC CORD SET PLUG
FROM THE CHARGING RECEPTACLE WHEN THE CHARGER IS ON.
THE RESULTING ARCING AND BURNING OF THE PLUG AND
RECEPTACLE COULD CAUSE THE BATTERIES TO EXPLODE. IF THE
CHARGER MUST BE STOPPED, FIRST DISCONNECT THE AC
POWER SUPPLY CORD FROM ITS AC OUTLET, AND THEN
DISCONNECT THE CHARGER DC CORD SET PLUG FROM THE
CHARGING RECEPTACLE.<<<

That shouldn't matter as long as you make sure the charger isn't actively charging when you unplug the DC cord, but it still seems to imply that you should unplug the AC first. That's probably just boilerplate, but its the way I've always done it anyway.

If something about this sequence is causing my troubles, then I think the electronics in this thing are just too fragile. I'm still thinking they got a bad batch of components from China.

[Bkfiremedic]

My email to Dpi and their reply


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[coosa]

I sent DPI an email last night with all of the information in this thread. Got a reply back this morning and the guy said there was "definitely" something wrong with my cart. I'm not sure how he diagnosed that without any information on my cart. Then he asked several questions that proved he hadn't read past the first paragraph of what I sent him, because most of the information he asked was already there.

One thing he did ask that isn't in the info I've posted here was my AC voltage. I just tested it again to make sure nothing has changed; it was 124.8 at both of the receptacles I've used to charge the cart. It was 125.1 in my kitchen, which is a few feet from the service entrance. That's a tiny bit higher than it is in some places, but is within normal and everything I've read says that being a little high is usually a good thing. I must have 40 different electrical devices running normally on this voltage.

I enjoy working on my carts and getting max efficiency out of them, but a battery charger is something I wanna plug in and forget about. I've spent hours upon hours fooling with this thing and I'm kinda tired of it. I think I will just use this charger until it dies and then count it as $300 thrown to the wind. I can switch my cart back to 36 volts and the old Powerwise will work without giving it a thought. The only time I really need 42 volts is during turkey season, and I will change it back then and then switch the wires when charging and charge the orphan battery with a 6 volt charger. That will add about 2 minutes to the charging procedure, but will be far better on my blood pressure.

Thanks to all for the help!

[cgtech]

That is true, your old ferroresonant charger doesn't care if there's something wrong with your cart.

[coosa]

Originally Posted by cgtech

That is true, your old ferroresonant charger doesn't care if there's something wrong with your cart.

So can you give me some examples of things that could be wrong with the cart that would keep the DPI from working? Remember that I put it in tow mode to charge it and the battery pack is producing normal readings and I get the same voltage at the receptacle as the pack. So its really no different than having the battery pack out of the cart and connecting the charger to it.

I'm not trying to be a smart a**; just genuinely wondering what could possibly be wrong with the pack and it still be so strong and produce normal voltage readings.