Question about a Powerwise charger

[Timberwolflt]

I have a powerwise charger that I’ve had for years... Whenever I Connect it to the cart.... it jumps up to @15 amps and works its way down... Pretty normal
I put new batteries in the cart... connect the charger... it only jumps up to 2amps... then proceeds to finish charging the batteries
So I figure that this must be normal with new batteries
Then today... I found a Powerwise charger on the cheap so I picked it up just because you have to pick it up when the guy only wants $40 for it
So I brought it home and connected it to the cart and it jumped up to 15amps to start charging... plugged the other one in... it only jumps to 2

The question... what does the charger need to get it to function normally again?

[JohnnieB]

Might be one of the two diodes is blown, but don't go replacing them yet, could be dirty/bad connection in the output cable or the capacitor is bad.

Attached is how to check for a bad capacitor or transformer, a schematic for the charger and a service manual for it.

[nickdalzell1]

If it's just after changing batteries I bet one is wired wrong, with loads going positive to positive and negative to negative on one battery. Does the car run slower than normal? I see this all the time

Also the usual culprit when a low amp's output charger comes into our shop for repair is a faulty capacitor. Bad diodes often result in either fuse blowing or a fireworks show.

[Timberwolflt]

What should the max shut off voltage be? It charged to 44-45 volts and hadn’t shut off so I got nervous and shut it off. The charger was down to 1-2 amps but still plugging away.

[Timberwolflt]

Originally Posted by nickdalzell1

If it's just after changing batteries I bet one is wired wrong, with loads going positive to positive and negative to negative on one battery. Does the car run slower than normal? I see this all the time

Also the usual culprit when a low amp's output charger comes into our shop for repair is a faulty capacitor. Bad diodes often result in either fuse blowing or a fireworks show.

Batteries are wired properly... It behaves the same on both of my carts

I wish it was a bad capacitor... That’s a job I can handle... The tests I need to run on the transformer and capacitor seem like rocket science to my simple mechanic brain

[Timberwolflt]

Full disclosure... When I opened it up... this is what I found
Then I blew it out so we could see the circuit board

[LabRat]

Wow, i believe that one of the worst that I have seen. Y'all might call be crazy but "Spider Webs" will conduct electricity & will become the birthplace of many a vengeful gremlin. However it looks like both mice & spiders are looking for a new home....

[Timberwolflt]

Capacitor tested bad... I have one on order... Should know Monday if that was my only problem

[Timberwolflt]

Found this thread...Thanks

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...-charging.html

[nickdalzell1]

A decent multimeter has a capacitor test built-in. Klein brand at Home Depot carries them.

The capacitor for a PowerWise 36V charger on TXT/Medalists are 20 MFD, Micro Farad. put meter in capacitor mode, the Klein one is auto-ranging, so when you attach leads you ought to get 18-22 if it's good. any value like 6 or less is leaky or open.

It's the capacitor that allows the 20 amps output. you can unplug the capacitor entirely and you'll get like 2 amps.