Low voltage, what’s wrong?

[Mr.ken]

So my cart has been sitting probably about two years(yeah,I know). During that time I had a power surge twice and my charger GFI tripped so the batteries were drain down to nothing. I just put fresh power translate it and charge them completely full. My digital meter read 52.1. When I step on the gas I get about half the speed I should and it drops down to about 26. I drove it down my driveway and back and it came to rest at 31. What could I have going on other than the batteries?

[Fairtax4me]

A bad battery cable or a loose connection.

[Mr.ken]

I know the connections are tight and clean, but I didn’t inspect the cables 5emselves

[Mr.ken]

Is it possible the batteries aren’t broken in? Problem is the voltage is so low I can’t really drive it anywhere

[Fairtax4me]

How far of a ride did you go on?
Unless one of them is dead on arrival then it’s unlikely.
You can check voltage on each one and make sure they all add up to proper voltage. Ideally they should all be over 8v. If they are all at 8.4v or more then the pack will be at the proper 50.9v+ that indicates a fully charged pack. And the bad cable will be one in the middle of the pack somewhere.

[Mr.ken]

I just went out and my Scotty b meter read 55 but it does under load. Lemme go measure them

[Fairtax4me]

Another thought, which I’m not sure if the cart would even work or not, is one of them may be connected backwards. Make sure the cables all go from a - to a + terminal.

[Mr.ken]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

How far of a ride did you go on?
Unless one of them is dead on arrival then it’s unlikely.
You can check voltage on each one and make sure they all add up to proper voltage. Ideally they should all be over 8v. If they are all at 8.4v or more then the pack will be at the proper 50.9v+ that indicates a fully charged pack. And the bad cable will be one in the middle of the pack somewhere.

I sincerely appreciate your help on this because I’m an idiot as far as that stuff goes. I just went out and took a look and there’s actually corrosion on one of the cables that I clean two days ago so I’m gonna buy a new set of cables. Five of the six batteries had 8.87 V and the other one was -.8

[Fairtax4me]

Is that -0.8v?

Make sure before you put new cables on to wire brush the contact surface of all the posts to remove any of the dark grey/ black oxide layer that can form on the posts. That will create a bad connection and lead to corrosion.
Also I always treat all terminals and cable ends with anti-corrosion spray or silicone grease after they’re installed and properly tightened. Keeps the green monster away.

[Mr.ken]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Is that -0.8v?

Make sure before you put new cables on to wire brush the contact surface of all the posts to remove any of the dark grey/ black oxide layer that can form on the posts. That will create a bad connection and lead to corrosion.
Also I always treat all terminals and cable ends with anti-corrosion spray or silicone grease after they’re installed and properly tightened. Keeps the green monster away.

It was -.8. I went out and disconnected the grounds to a few aftermarket things I have such as voltage reducer a switch for the headlights and a 12 V receptacle. I put it back on the charger and went out to swap the dirty battery cable to a different location about 20 minutes later and that battery was now up to 3 V. While taking a look the 12 V outlet has a flexible rubber rubber cover to be watertight and it is essentially melted so it appears I may have a short