DPI Charger and Battery Issues?

[E36Racer]

Originally Posted by teecro

I really had to laugh at a story my wife related to me the other day. She was at our neighbors house and in conversation mentioned our battery issues. Well our grumpy 76 year old neighbor see this as an excuse to rag on her about that's why you should buy a gas cart etc... When he kept this up a bit too long she told him that despite the fact that our batteries were on the tired side that she has to ride the brakes while following his gas cart and that not only was it noisy enough to scare off the wildlife that it stunk worse than a dead skunk...

She deserves some flowers or chocolate covered strawberries for that one. [emoji106]

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by E36Racer

She deserves some flowers or chocolate covered strawberries for that one. [emoji106]

x2!!

[teecro]

Happy to report that on arriving home after being gone for 3 weeks that the batteries had just slipped under 50 volts. I asked the wife if had used or charged the cart at all while I was at work, she replied that she had used the cart a little for a few trips to the neighbors and around the yard but had not charged it at all.

Plugged into the DPI Smart Charger now set on Mode 2 and watched it bulk charge the batteries and it switched over to float mode. We used the cart almost daily for trips down to the marina and I'm very pleased to say that the batteries are still showing right at 100 % or 51 volts after a 2.5 mile hilly trip, which is pretty much as they used to do before being boiled out by my lack of attention.

Each and every time the cart was charged the charger has reached the required voltage and switched over to float mode, so I'm feeling forgiven for my sins and will continue running these batteries.

Will see where they stand in 4 weeks as we are both gone, thus I did not risk leaving the charger plugged in completely unattended...

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by teecro

-snip-
I did not risk leaving the charger plugged in completely unattended...

Lol! It is designed to be left that way. All of my Powerdrives are plugged in where ever they are stored as are the DPI's. I have never ever had a problem with any of them.....

[teecro]

Originally Posted by NoleFan4Ever

Lol! It is designed to be left that way. All of my Powerdrives are plugged in where ever they are stored as are the DPI's. I have never ever had a problem with any of them.....

Well you've got to take into account the problems I experienced, I simply didn't want to risk an issue when no one would be there to attend to it... I've go to regain trust in this aged battery pack and the DPI charger...

[Fairtax4me]

Originally Posted by teecro

Well you've got to take into account the problems I experienced, I simply didn't want to risk an issue when no one would be there to attend to it... I've go to regain trust in this aged battery pack and the DPI charger...

Buy an electronic timer that will cut power to the charger after 14-16 hours?

What was the voltage on the two batteries that were warmest? Did you look in the fill holes to see if each cell and each battery was bubbling?

When the voltages get out of balance like that it can help to hook up a light bulb (or three) on each battery to discharge them individually. It takes a little while but it can get them closer to the same end voltage, as the batteries with the higher voltage will not be overcharging while the ones with lower voltage are still trying to reach full charge. When they're all closer to the same voltage for a few cycles they should start to act more like what you're used to.

You could also use a 12v charger to try to bring the voltage up on the lower batteries.

To get a better idea of the overall health of each battery it helps to know its internal resistance. There isn't much you can do to change that, but it will tell you if one or more of your batteries are totally beyond help. I use a digital tester similar to this one digital battery tester

It shows voltage, internal resistance, and calculated capacity in CCA. These cheaper testers are programmed for 12v batteries, so the calculated CCA is a bit inflated since that's based partly on IR and voltage. But seeing the calculated capacity of each battery will still help you determine if one has a lower state of charge even if it shows a normal voltage level. In the end the calculated CCA is just an estimation anyway. There are testers designed for 6 and 8v batteries, but they generally cost more than a set of batteries.

[whit71]

Teecro,

How long did your batteries last? did switching to Mode 2 help, or were they toast? I only ask because I am going through a similar scenario now. My situation is a little different, in that my DPI, was over charging my batteries and boiling the water out of them. But I changed the Control board, and it is now working, but the batteries are getting very hot when charging. I was thinking of switching modes as you did, and was wondering what your results were now, a year later. Thanks in advance.

[teecro]

Originally Posted by whit71

Teecro,

How long did your batteries last? did switching to Mode 2 help, or were they toast? I only ask because I am going through a similar scenario now. My situation is a little different, in that my DPI, was over charging my batteries and boiling the water out of them. But I changed the Control board, and it is now working, but the batteries are getting very hot when charging. I was thinking of switching modes as you did, and was wondering what your results were now, a year later. Thanks in advance.

Sorry Whit, just now seeing this post. Happy to state that these batteries are still in use and performing quite well. The charger is now in mode 2 as mode 3 proved to be a bit much for the batteries in their aged state, sometimes it would hit its plateau and switch over to float mode without fail but then again there were times I would find the charger still chugging and the batteries quite warm to the touch. Left in mode 2 it always hits its mark and floats the batteries at 53 volts. During times of known extended storage (4 weeks plus) I still use the Sav-A-Battery charger as it holds the batteries at 54 volts float, this seems to have helped perk the batteries up as I don't notice as much voltage sag when running up our numerous paved hills. I also recently built a set of Passive Voltage Bypasses which I should have built 5 years ago as it helps the pack charge more evenly...

BTW the batteries are now 5.5 years old...

[Dlab]

I think I’m in the sane boat...I can barely make a trip from the front of my hunting club to the back 2 times now, used to be 4/5 trips. Now I have to fully charge with my DPI every night to make sure I get back, US Batts, 3 yrs old. Voltage drops below 40 if I make 2 trips. I think it’s ran too many charge cycles. Was always told here plug it in after even a short ride......

[teecro]

Originally Posted by Dlab

I think I’m in the sane boat...I can barely make a trip from the front of my hunting club to the back 2 times now, used to be 4/5 trips. Now I have to fully charge with my DPI every night to make sure I get back, US Batts, 3 yrs old. Voltage drops below 40 if I make 2 trips. I think it’s ran too many charge cycles. Was always told here plug it in after even a short ride......

And you should keep plugged as much as reasonable, short charging cycles are not particularly harmful to overall life. I've not actually lost much by way of range, just a loss of oomph going up some hills.

Assuming that the water levels are good? I'd suggest getting voltage readings from each battery while under load.