98 ccds 48 volt charging question.

[Jc4303]

Just my thoughts, I would think that if the battery pack was junk the cart wouldn't have been as usable as it was (almost two days of running the campground) before it died. I don't think it has seen a good charge since I've had it. I did do a manual charge on each individual battery to bring them back up before starting any diag. And it is usable at the moment, I drove it down the street and back. Does it sound like I covered all my bases before throwing an obc at it. What's your thoughts on buying the obc elimination harness and a new charger? Thanks again for all the input, you guys are great.

[Golf cart guy]

Originally Posted by Jc4303

Just my thoughts, I would think that if the battery pack was junk the cart wouldn't have been as usable as it was (almost two days of running the campground) before it died. I don't think it has seen a good charge since I've had it. I did do a manual charge on each individual battery to bring them back up before starting any diag. And it is usable at the moment, I drove it down the street and back. Does it sound like I covered all my bases before throwing an obc at it. What's your thoughts on buying the obc elimination harness and a new charger? Thanks again for all the input, you guys are great.

I agree with you. Everything you said points to a OBC. The charge system is really not that complicated.

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Battery condition is an illusion a lot of times. You have example A, a guy who uses his golf cart to play 2 rounds of golf per day, 5 days a week. His batteries are considered "good" to him as long as they're capable of providing him with enough energy to do what he needs to do with the golf cart. If the cart fails to complete this task and begins to die out on him halfway through the second round, he gets new batteries. Those batteries are no longer good enough for him. Then you have example B, the little old lady who uses her cart once a day to ride to her mailbox half a mile down the road. The batteries from the example A cart are a perfect fit for the little old lady. They may last her another 2 or 3 years before they quit doing what she needs them to do. The bottom line is that batteries are only "bad" if they don't do what you need them to do. I don't know what kind of range you demand out of your cart. If you only drive it short distances periodically, you may have severely depleted batteries and not realize it. If a golf car owner neglects his or her batteries and lets them go dry for 6 months and refills them with water and they continue to work, delivering short distance run times with no issue. The individual thinks the batteries are fine. However, when batteries go dry you significantly reduce the usable volume of that battery. Let's say the battery is 10 inches tall, with four cells at 2 volts each. If that battery loses enough water to only cover half of the cell, you still have a 2 volt cell, but with only half the capacity. The charging system is still attempting to charge a 48 volt battery pack, but with only half of the batteries actually usable, it charges and discharges faster than it would with a good new set of batteries. I've seen it time and time again. A perfectly good working OBC will "charge" depleted batteries in an hour or 2 and will be able to reach the maximum shut off voltage and quit charging. Ride the cart for a little while, and it's dead again. People begin to point at the charger as the problem because their voltage is believed to be what they consider "strong". Yes it may be strong enough to run the cart, but with depleted batteries, it's not gonna run the cart long. I'm not pointing fingers at you and saying that this is your case, but I want everyone to be aware that this can happen, and it does happen, often. I sell OBCs to lots of people and from time to time I'll get a customer claiming it didn't fix their problem. They replace the batteries and everything works as it should. People often call me and claim "My golf cart takes forever to charge, I think I need new batteries". I'll go pick the cart up and bring it back to the shop to perform a discharge test on it to find out that it's still got 90% capacity and the batteries are perfectly healthy. Then I have to explain to him that his cart is taking the normal 12-16 hours to charge because his batteries are in great shape and they're absorbing the energy the charger is putting into them until they can't absorb anymore. 4 years later, I'll install a new set.

[Jc4303]

You guys have been great!! Thanks again for all the info and taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.

[jjance]

You never did answer Sergio's question about the cable running through the OBC as in this picture. You will probably have a black wire, but the color doesn't matter. Disregard the yellow circle, that was another answer. And yes I know this is a Precedent picture but the OBC's are physically alike.

[Jc4303]

Yes, I have a cable coming from the sixth battery negative and going through the obc.

[Jc4303]

.....UPDATE..... It was in fact the o.b.c causing all the problems. I installed a new one and it is charging the way it should now. Thanks again for listening and giving your input.

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Originally Posted by Jc4303

.....UPDATE..... It was in fact the o.b.c causing all the problems. I installed a new one and it is charging the way it should now. Thanks again for listening and giving your input.

[Golf cart guy]

Perfect