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Old 12-11-2017, 09:26 AM   #1
firemanJBI
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Default New Member needs a hand

Hello eveyone, new to the site and hoped you folks could help me out with my cart problems.

My cart is a 2004 Ez-go TXT 36V. We've owned it a few years. Its obviously not had alot of use prior to our ownership. I suspect the batteries could be original - however its never given me any problems.

Brought it home from out trailer park back in October. Its been sitting in the heated garage since. Son and I took it out the other day for a little ride and it died about 1/2 mile from home. This was the first time it ever died but I suspected it was low batt from sitting for a couple months without charge.

I towed it home (slow with ATV) and placed it on charge for several days. The charger clicks and seem to be working as it always has. A few days later I go to move it, it moves 6-7 ft then dead. Only a click is herd from what I think is the solenoid. When all batts are connected together they all show 6-7V and at the pos and neg to motor 40ish volts and when I press the pedal the volts drop to around 30. So the cart only seems to move breifly right off the charger.

Of course I think bad batteries right away, but there was no sign of weakness prior to this problem. Did I damage it during tow ? Any help from those knowledgable is awesome. thanks all.
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Old 12-11-2017, 10:02 AM   #2
EZHO
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Thats what mine is doing ...
So after gathering all the info available from this site I'm making a folder for myself
that i'm going to call "The BGW Battery Bible " .and its still in work so disregard spelling and repeats Ect'
.
So Sounds like you should Rule out batteries and connections first so .....
.
There are a number of things that make you think "the batteries are good", only to find the batteries are bad when tested properly .
.
Always the first part of testing a battery and battery pack is Charging and Checking
.
You will definitely need a volt meter to test them properly and tell whats going on ...
.
But the First thing you need to do is check to make sure all your battery cable connections are good. Connections and cables that are severely corroded, burnt, brittle or stiff are pretty much toast and need to be replaced. Give them a good pull and twist to make sure they are not loose or better yet take them off ONE AT A TIME,. clean the connection and the battery terminal post and put it right back on. Taking them off and cleaning them ensures 2 things....You will know the cable ends and connection is good . Place the highest amp draw cable on the post first, so that it has the most intimate contact with the battery post terminal. There is also an abundance of forum cart questions that can be tracked back to a cart that is miss-wired so review the cable routing and that the main positive and negitves cables are hooked up at the right place
,
If you decide to skip the above section , you could very well be wasting your time testing anything . and end up buying some very expensive parts you didn't need because the real problem was something as simple as above
.
Charge batteries to full with charger, then do not drive it and let batteries sit without a charger hooked up for 12 hrs. (overnight)
If you cant wait for the sit period then drive the cart for a half mile before recording the volts to take the temporary high fresh charge reading off pack (but not advised)

The " Whole Battery Pack" reading in good condition should read 2.122 volts per "cell" with the formula below / regardless off batteries types ( 6v/8v/12v )
Example for a 36 volt system : 36 volt systems have 3 cells per battery times 6 batteries / so 3 x 6 x 2.122 = 38.2 volts
.
Or use the state of charge (SoC) chart below in the thumbnails
.
compare your actual voltage readings to determine the health of your battery pack
.
And just becouse you may have a good reading at this point , doesnt mean you have a healthy battery pack , keep testing with all of the next steps.
.
Check the voltage of each battery ... since they are in series, you will not have to disconnect them ... they can easily be checked individually while cabled up in your cart
.
Voltage on a fully charged "Single Battery" in good condition will read 2.122 volts per "cell" (same as above) / regardless of battery type, ( 6v/8v/12v )
Example : a 6 volt battery has 3 "cells" / so 3 cells times 2.122 = 6.37 volts per battery
.
Or use the SoC chart below in the thumbnails
.
You will also need to keep track and record your individual battery voltage readings to compare to each other . Individual battery voltages in a battery pack should not range greater "FROM EACH OTHER" (highest reading to lowest reading) more than 0.15 volts for 6 volt batteries or 0.22 volts for 12 volt batteries."
.( see Charging Section below under the " "Equalizing should be performed " if over/under the limits )

Most people dont have or want a hydrometer , but if you buy one / Get the ones with the needle type (not floating balls)
In both voltage and specific gravity readings, consistency among cells and among batteries is important.
A lead acid battery cell is fully charged with a specific gravity of 1.277 or higher at 80° F. For temperature adjustments, get a specific gravity reading and adjust to temperature by adding .004 for every 10° F above 80° F and subtracting .004 for every 10° F below 80°
.
But by Far the LOAD TESTING is the most important test. Batteries can have a good surface charge reading, but fail under load.
.
Again from above :
Charge batteries to full with charger, then do not drive it and let batteries sit without a charger hooked up for 12 hrs. (overnight)
.If you cant wait for the sit period then drive the cart for a half mile before recording the volts to take the temporary high fresh charge reading off pack (but not advised)
.
Put your DVM (meter) probes in the charge port while driving .
Use a Volt meter to show the" Whole pack voltage" reduced reading under load. This is an important feature to monitor. These lower readings are actually a load test reading of the whole pack. The meter should go right back up when the load is removed
A healthy battery pack under full load (full pedal) should never read lower than 1 battery removed from the pack.
Examples: 30v for a 36v.pack../ . and... 40v for a 48v pack.... ect'
. .
If you have a handheld load tester for your battery type, then you can use that on each battery separately.
.
Or you may have to run jumper wires to each battery somehow/someway to test while driving under a full load condition (full pedal or hill)
.
A 6 volt battey that reads 6 volts on a volt meter is considered dead. Each cell produces around 2.3 volts. They really should not get below 6 volts even under load.

Rule the thumb for batteries is ..... If the cart is starting to move, but has very poor performance, or quits . It's probably (Again Probably) not a Motor, controller or solenoid issue. More often it is the forward & reverse switch or the batteries are falling off due to one or more of the above conditions . Even just "One battery" that is failing under load could be the problem, that's all it takes
.
So when "YOU" decide to replace batteries due to performance or inconvenience is up to you .
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Battery Chart.jpg (116.7 KB, 0 views)
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Old 12-11-2017, 10:28 AM   #3
EZHO
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

.
But even more Importantly to BGW '
.
.There's also a Charging and Maintenance section , if you'd like it . its just as long , but hey .. its your thread
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Old 12-11-2017, 11:39 AM   #4
firemanJBI
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Thanks for the info EZHO. I know I saw some corrosion on the terminels. Ill try and clean that up this week. I know I saw the load test drop to around 30V from 40ish after charge. And again it returns to 40(ish) V after I release the pedal. But the cart doesnt move.

Wouldnt this suggest the terminal connections are good? I guess weak connections can reduce amprage available. Just weird how it moves right after being on charge then dead.

My F/R is the old "arm" below the bench not the switch if that matters. Could anything have happened from the Tow?
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Old 12-11-2017, 12:09 PM   #5
EZHO
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

A healthy battery pack under full load (full pedal) should never read lower than 1 battery removed from the pack.
Examples: 30v for a 36v.pack..
.
i'd bet it drops to 37.5 or so after a "at rest reading " because Thats exactly what mine does !
.
My guess is a bad pack / i'd fix whatever it takes to get a drop of not less than 34 volts under load before chasing anything else .
.
i've seen alot of threads on towing , and it seems like as long as you didn't tow the cart faster than it can normally go. you didnt hurt anything . But not positive on that , someone else will jump in with input i hope ...
.
i'd fix the load drop problem before chasing or worrying about anything else .
.
Try the Equalizing section from my folder .
.
.Also, EQUALIZING SHOULD BE PREFORMED (also called a freshening charge)
.
"Equalizing should be performed when a battery is first purchased and on a regular basis as needed. after a full charge is complete you can unplug the charger and re-plug it right back in. This will conduct a equalization charge .. You will need to monitor your individual battery voltages . Equalization should be performed when individual battery voltages in a battery pack range greater FROM EACH OTHER (highest reading to lowest reading) more than 0.15 volts for 6 volt batteries or 0.22 volts for 12 volt batteries."

. you can also charge them individually ... with a auto battery charger.
.
. If the batteries are severely deep cycled (drained/low), some automatic battery chargers contain an electronic module that may not activate the battery charger and it will not turn on. Most chargers will not come on unless they sense a certain voltage coming from the main battery pack... They will vary from charger to charger. If needed You can use an automotive type 12 volt charger to charge 2 six volt batteries at a time to get the voltage up enough for the golf cart charger to take over.
.
Using a 12 volt charger on 6 volt batteries you can Charge them 2 at a time, in the cart, without disconnecting anything. Simply attach battery charger Positive clamp to the Positive (+) of one battery and the battery charger Negative clamp to the Negative (-) of the 2nd battery that "share a single cable". But not on the posts that share the common cable ! This is 12v and The charge will only go into the 2 batteries between the charger clamps
.
EDIT : yes your charger is working , but you could improve you pack by this EQUALIZING SHOULD BE PREFORMED technique
.
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Old 12-11-2017, 12:15 PM   #6
scottyb
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Quote:
Originally Posted by firemanJBI View Post
Thanks for the info EZHO. I know I saw some corrosion on the terminels. Ill try and clean that up this week. I know I saw the load test drop to around 30V from 40ish after charge. And again it returns to 40(ish) V after I release the pedal. But the cart doesnt move.

Wouldnt this suggest the terminal connections are good? I guess weak connections can reduce amprage available. Just weird how it moves right after being on charge then dead.

My F/R is the old "arm" below the bench not the switch if that matters. Could anything have happened from the Tow?

It it is a series cart the tow would not hurt it. It is series if it has F&R lever by the seat and NO run/tow switch. If it runs even for a short distance it is okay from the tow. Everything you have told us points to bad battery(ies)
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Old 12-11-2017, 12:40 PM   #7
fsu1tm
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Great information from EZ
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Old 12-11-2017, 12:53 PM   #8
EZHO
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

All information is from this site from guys like scottyb and the rest of the BGW A-Team , I just copy and paste
.
I'll PM you the whole folder if youd like ..
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Old 12-11-2017, 02:01 PM   #9
firemanJBI
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Thanks for all the great info guys. Ill be looking into it further in a few days.

I still find it weird that the batteries just up and went south so quickly. I've had friends that have had batteries go bad and thier run times decreased for several weeks prior to being fully dead.

EZHO - I have tried the balance charge technique several times with no sucsess.
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Old 12-11-2017, 02:59 PM   #10
EZHO
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Default Re: New Member needs a hand

Quote:
Originally Posted by firemanJBI View Post

I still find it weird that the batteries just up and went south so quickly.
Then go with your gut , it may very well be the corroded Cables you found.(how corroded) .and not sure how you did your load testing with results at 6-7 volts (6.05 is 50% )

As stated from folder , start at the top of the list and work your way down ..
.
You dont want to buy 800 dollars worth of batteries and still have the same issue
.
Sorry Gotta ask ' you checked the water levels right ?
So if you need my, Watering your batteries folder let me know
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