Mistery ????

[waldos1]

i have a 2007 PDS 36 volt cart, i have just run into some trouble , i can ride for say 10 min then i see the cart start to slow down and the battery gauge shows its fading fast so i try to recharge but the charger says its full, so by accident when i checked all my cables were tight and clean when i removed a cable it sparked and guess what the gauge shows full charge and i can run wide open for maybe 20 min then goes down again so i did the same steps but until i spark any battery it will not go so i make the battery spark, so it seems that something is staying closed or open until i get that spark to release it or hold it happen ??????

[bigstik40]

I'm sure the experts will be along shortly, but in the meantime you should get yourself a digital voltmeter for checking battery voltages. You should measure and record the total pack voltage before running the cart (38.2 V. would be fully charged). Then take the cart out for a run and check the total pack voltage after it acts up. Also take individual battery voltages at this time and record them. If you report your findings here, it will provide needed information for helping you. Ray

[waldos1]

Thanks , so check before i ride then check later and or when it goes into this fail mode , i'll try but it don't do it every day, but i;ll try tonight

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by waldos1

i have a 2007 PDS 36 volt cart, i have just run into some trouble , i can ride for say 10 min then i see the cart start to slow down and the battery gauge shows its fading fast so i try to recharge but the charger says its full, so by accident when i checked all my cables were tight and clean when i removed a cable it sparked and guess what the gauge shows full charge and i can run wide open for maybe 20 min then goes down again so i did the same steps but until i spark any battery it will not go so i make the battery spark, so it seems that something is staying closed or open until i get that spark to release it or hold it happen ??????

Sounds like you have a LED bar-Graph type battery meter and when the pack voltage is removed (IE: Any of the cables connecting the batteries in series), some of them re-calibrate to 100% SoC at whatever the pack voltage is when it is re-established at the meter.

Like Bigstik40 says, get a digital voltmeter and measure what the actual voltages are.
If you have Trojan batteries or clones, approximately 12 hours after the charger shuts off, a fully charge battery pack will read 38.2V and each battery will read 6.37V.

Hopefully, you have been flipping the Run/Tow switch to Tow when you've disconnected and reconnected the battery cables, or any other electrical wiring throughout the cart. (Connecting and disconnecting the charger to the cart is the only exception to the rule.)

A modest spark when disconnect/reconnecting a battery cable is normal. As long as the battery pack is connected to the controller, there will be some current flowing. This is due to the controller being capable of energizing the solenoid and invoking regenerative braking whenever the Run/Tow switch in in the Run position (Walkaway Safety feature) and because the filter capacitors (which have bleeder resistors across them) are maintained at a voltage very close to pack voltage via the pre-charge resistor across the solenoid's large (contact) terminals.

Put controller in Diagnostic mode and drive that way. It may beep an error code if it is a controller issue causing it to lose power.
The text at the bottom of the attached label tells you how to put controller in Diagnostic mode and lists various error code.

[waldos1]

i have tested each battery and all are about 6.? real close i'll check when it does this again as i know it will ,im at work and we have a load tester also so i;ll give that a try

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by waldos1

i have tested each battery and all are about 6.? real close i'll check when it does this again as i know it will ,im at work and we have a load tester also so i;ll give that a try

Individual battery voltages should be resolved down to 0.01V for analysis. IE: 6.37V.

The difference between 90% charged and 100% charged is only 0.06V.

If it is a car battery type load tester, it won't tell you if deep cycle batteries are good or not, but it will give you a ballpark comparison between the six batteries. They should all drop to same voltage in the same amount of time under load.

[waldos1]

thanks for the info will try tonight and post the results thanks

[waldos1]

Ok i had a load tester when i got home 1 battery showed 4.5 and all the rest were 5.4 , i tried to ride hardly moved but the gauge showed almost full, so i hooked the charger and when its almost full charge it doesn't swing the needdle on the charger all the way back so i know it was almost charged so i let it go for 1 hour and wow got on it ran like it always has done a load test and all were 5.6 this time, i put it on charge again last night will check each cell tonight.

[scottyb]

Those batteries are shot. They should be close to 6.37 charged and settled for 12 hours and not less than 5.9 under full GOLF CART load.

[waldos1]

Ok here are my findings by checking each cell 5 batteries were all right on the blue right above the white mark of the hydrometer and 1 was in the white it says fair 1225 the best was 1250 but the battery that failed the load test was one of the better readings??????