Dealer installed charger "start" button

[carguy]

Hi Gang,

Got a neighbor who's EZ GO 36 volt car was down to around 30 volts pack voltage. The charger would not come on. Sorry, I don't know what year the car is.

The dealer installed some sort of a start or over ride button on the charger, that allows the charger to start the charge cycle. Got the car charged and he is happy.

Anybody heard of this, and how does it work?

THANKS, Dave

[JohnnieB]

Probably bypasses the AC relay. Not the smartest thing in the world to do except for troubleshooting.

Normally, the battery pack has to be above a predetermined voltage for the relay to close, about 27V for a 36V charger. This was done for safety. With it bypassed or capable of being bypassed without due care and forethought, the charger could be attached to a 24V pack or even a 12V car battery, and an explosion is likely to occur and anyone or anything nearby is going to get a sulfuric acid bath.

Deep discharge batteries should never be discharged below 50% (about 36.31V), so 30V is far more than 90% discharged, and your friend has most likely damaged his batteries.

The key to battery longevity is charge often and don't discharge too deeply.

A better way to charge deeply discharged batteries is charge them in pairs (6V batteries) using a 12V charger until the voltage is high enough to turn on the 36V charger.
Then let the 36V charger do its thing.