36V state of charge meter stays on green

[Iceman551960]

I just installed a bar state of charge on my 03 club car ds. One wire went to one wire on switch, one wire went to other wire on switch, the third wire went to ground. seemed easy enough until after two days of driving around, my cart almost died and the meter was still saying green. Any suggestions?

[branson]

charge the batteries every time you park the cart regardless of what the meter says. if it is a bar graph meter they're not very reliable to begin with

[Iceman551960]

Just an FYI thats terrible on your batteries

[mrgolf]

I hope you did not run a wire to ground. There is not a ground on an electric cart. Best results is to run wire from main pos battery number 1 or where it connects to controller. The neg wire needs to go to main neg post at battery number 6 or where it connects to the controller. Then the switch wire to key switch. If these bar meters loose battery voltage then get it back again they take that voltage as full charge. Thus when you turn the key off you reset the meter each time the way you say it is connected.

[93yellowclubcar]

Originally Posted by Iceman551960

Just an FYI thats terrible on your batteries

Recharging often is terrible for batteries??? All of us who have gotten long life from our packs in the past by doing that plus maintaining them otherwise must be doing it wrong.

Some reading material from Scottyb: http://cartsunlimited.net/How_Batteries_Work.html

Also, check out some reading material straight from Trojan: http://www.trojanbattery.com/tech-su...y-maintenance/

There was a school of thought "back in the day" that you'd want to run your batteries down, and then charge them once they get down there, however golf cart batteries (lead acid ones) DO NOT form a memory, so for longevity of your pack, follow a simple rule: Parked and Plugged!

[jakesnake27]

Originally Posted by Iceman551960

Just an FYI thats terrible on your batteries

I agree with yellow, in a golf cart battery's perfect world, they would be at 100% SOC 24/7. So, always keep them topped off...

[Iceman551960]

Thanks yellow and jakesnake. thought i had to run them down some each time first. I'll be sure to keep them topped off from now on.

[Iceman551960]

No, mrgolf, I didn't run a wire to ground. By ground I meant the neg terminal on the battery

[mrgolf]

Originally Posted by Iceman551960

No, mrgolf, I didn't run a wire to ground. By ground I meant the neg terminal on the battery

I didn't really think so but just in case I thought I would ask. The key switch has two hot wires with the key on. One with the key off. If you try and switch the wires from the meter to have the one that should go to the main pos to the wire that supplies voltage to the key switch and the other to the other side of the switch the gets power when the switch is turned on everything should work.

I can put my cart in tow and that resets the meter when I go back to run. That is why I think you may have that one wire on the wrong side of the key switch, if all this is as clear as mudd.

[Iceman551960]

I re-wired it the way you said. Pos to pos battery 1, neg to neg battery 6, and 3rd to switch. The meter now turns off when I turn my key off. Not sure if it is correct now or not as I've been plugging it in every time I stop