Forward Reverse switch melted on forward...have question about replacement part

[mbradley35]

We got our new batteries at Sams Club...I hope it's not illegal to post storenames and such. They were 80.00 a piece.

Just stuck with replacing with the regular F/R switch and did put in the new 4 gauge wires for batteries and F/R to motor and others.........has run like a top! We cleaned some of the other small wire connectors and was breathing a sigh of relief.

Tonight, we went to plug it up to the charger since our battery light started going on and off here and there.....and our charger now just clicks, but sits at 0. In the morning, we're going to check the charger receptacle and its fuse and wires. It had gotten dusk. We did give a quick looksee and checked ourselves on all the cart's charger wires to be sure we had connected correctly and that none were loose... Hopefully, it will be the fuse. The gray wire that has the fuse inline in it had some foil covering the fuse when we got the cart used, so we haven't messed with that. It had been charging before and cutting off, before the new batteries and now the new 4ga cables and new F/R switch. This is the first time, we've tried to charge since making all those changes.

Wish us luck!!

[mbradley35]

Oh, forgot to mention that with the 4ga cables, we have had no heat on those at all where they connect to the F/R, so you guys were right! We must have had some bad cables there.

[GLEEMO]

Check Pack Voltage , it could be to low to turn charger on.

What brand of Batteries and how many times , have they been charged.

[mbradley35]

This is the first time to charge these new batteries and only trying to do so because the battery low light has started coming on some. It's not staying solid yet, but comes on and goes off. The cart is running fine, but I wanted to prevent running it until it was chugging and dead. So we know the battery pack is not too low.

Have checked the fuses on the charger receptacle and in the charger and they are both good. Trying to charge today it is throwing the circuit breaker on the charger itselt. Once we reset it, it does it again. From what I've read on other posts, would this mean that the OBC isn't throwing the gray wire down enough to trigger the charger to charge, or that we have a short somewhere in the charger circuit wiring??? The cart is running just fine, F and R, no problems, only problem is trying to charge it.

Thanks,
John

[GLEEMO]

You should not have even driven the cart until these were charged completely.

It take 50-100 charges to get the batteries up to their full potential.

Get Pack reading with a Digital volt meter and post here.

[mbradley35]

Wow, we have never been told this before when we've bought new batteries for carts we've had in the past. Figured it was like a car battery, you buy it, it comes charged, you use it. We put the new batteries in a few weeks ago and that's when our F/R switch melted from heat on the cables. So sounds like the batteries were mighty powerful then??? We did check them when we put them into the cart and each was registering 8.4 on our digital voltimeter. We've run the cart around alot and since the light was starting to flicker.

Figured that we'd jarred some other wire in the process of changing out our 6ga for 4ga cables and was hoping for a pointer from those with more experience???? Not to get spanked for running the cart on new batteries straight from the store.

[GLEEMO]

Look I'm not spanking U , I trying to troubleshoot a problem for U.

If you go to Trojan's web site and look, it plainly states what I have already told U.
U have never posted that U checked the Batteries after purchase "."
One must also assume if it takes this long to reach potential , that would mean early discharge.
It also states not to run Batteries below 80% see chart here http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...-readings.html

The charger has an under-voltage detection circuit to prevent it from coming on so Idiots wont ruin $500 batteries .
Solid state controllers also have this IDIOT circuit.
That is the reason I have requested multiple times the PACK VOLTAGE reading .

U need someone with more expertise ( right ).

If U don't want to be spanked don't be an A55 !

I'm outa here , Very smart volunteers needed ?

[impalass88]

gmorrison is correct. When putting new batteries in a cart charge them fully before even driving it. Batteries do come somewhat charged, but not fully charged. After you have charged them completely, drive the cart for 10 to 15 minutes and charge fully again. Do this 10 - 15 times to "condition" the batteries (kind of like a break-in period). This is something that most people are not aware of and it does take somewhat of a toll on your new batteries. If you follow this procedure and do faithful maintenance (check water level regularly, use distilled water only, maintain pack charge of 50% or more at all times, and keep clean tight connections) you should get many years of good service out of your batteries. Plug your cart in to charge even after using it for as little as 15 minutes. Keeping as full of charge as possible keeps the sulfation build-up on the plates to a minimum. Sulfation is what eventually will destroy a battery. Check out these documents from Trojan battery. They are very good at explaining how to get the most out of your investment.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/Tech-Su...intenance.aspx

[mbradley35]

Thanks for your replies on the batteries. The total pack right now is reading right at 48.4...so we are at the 50% charge right now.

We read some more posts about the charge process and found part of our problem. When we replace the cables with the 4 gauge ones, we had rerouted the negative cable through the frame instead of through the hole in the OBC because it seemed like it wouldn't go (too big for the hole). Someone had posted that the OBC actually takes a reading on the Negative cable through that hole and would react properly to send the low signal through the gray wire to the charger receptable to enable the charger. So we found some vaseline and was able to get the 4ga cable through the hole and took the cart for a short run hoping the OBC would take the correct reading and allow charging to take place. It still is popping out the circuit breaker switch. We are about to try the Resetting the OBC to see if that will help. We were amazed at all the stuff the OBC does.

Just wanted to post again to say thank you to all that replied. This cart has been a money pit so far and very frustrating. It's hard to be told something direct like "You shouldn't have..." or "Don't be an ***....". I needed help and some ideas. I guess you older members do get tired of the same ole questions. I have tried to read and read and read before I post so that I have tried to fix things myself. You learn better that way. We'd had a golf cart maintenance guy at our local golf club to tell us to wait on charging until the light comes on or your batteries will not last very long. The info you guys are talking about makes sense, but says to charger every time you use it, no matter for how long. I appreciate the info greatly. No hard feelings, gmorrison.

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by gmorrison

I still disagree with stock, when something fails replace with the best, kinda like #6 to # 4's or putting stock controller back in after a failure.

This is my opinion and only my opinion and as you already see it may or may-not be shared by others in this forum

There's merit to both sides We never did define what " we use the heck out of it" really amounts to?