lifted club cars - lifted ezgo
Home FAQDonate Who's Online
Go Back   Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum > Golf Cart Repair and Troubleshooting > Electric Club Car
Electric Club Car Electric DS, and Precedent golf cars



Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-13-2023, 05:12 PM   #1
lx5spd
Not Yet Wild
 
lx5spd's Avatar
Yamaha
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 15
Default Battery Meter not reading correctly

Hey all, sorry if this has been discussed before. I used the search function but couldn’t find any threads directly related to my issue.

I recently bought a 96 Club Car DS 48v. It had an old analog battery meter that wasn’t reading correctly, so I assumed it was just old and the sweep on the arm was out of tune. I bought a digital meter with the bars from Amazon and installed it.

It worked fine for about a week, but now when I plug the cart in to charge, the charger comes on and stops after a few hours or so, but the battery meter doesn’t budge, still showing 30% charge. I checked the voltage on the batteries and it read 50.8v so I know they are charged.

I have reset the OBC 4-5 times and it will read 80% full and then quickly drop to around 40-50% after only having driven 4-5 miles. Plug the cart back in thinking the batteries just aren’t up to snuff and the meter again won’t budge unless I reset the OBC.

Am I chasing two separate issues? Bad OBC, old batteries (batteries are date stamped February 2021 so I don’t think they are that low on life), faulty charger?

Thanks in advance,

Nick
lx5spd is offline   Reply With Quote
Alt Today
BGW

Golf car forum Sponsored Links

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum
   
Old 07-13-2023, 05:35 PM   #2
Beerman24
Gone Wild
 
Beerman24's Avatar
Club Car
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Stuart, FL
Posts: 386
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Buy a quality battery meter.. I can tell you that’s what everyone is going to say….
Beerman24 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2023, 06:22 PM   #3
CP241
Nincompoop village idiot
 
CP241's Avatar
Club Car
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Michigan
Posts: 9,625
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

First, Check your voltage at the meter and compare to what you’ve got at the battery pack + and -. A bad connection can drop a couple volts which is all it takes to drop one of those meters from 100% to 30%

Second, I’d ditch the crappy bar graph or percentage meters and get a decent meter with a voltage readout so you know exactly what’s going on. Keep a SOC chart handy for reference. You won’t need it for very long before you’ve pretty much got it memorized. I’ve used the digital volt meters on Amazon several times with no issues and they’re only 8 or 9 bucks
CP241 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 05:46 AM   #4
Walrus
Not Yet Wild
Club Car
 
Join Date: Aug 2022
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 47
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

I did the same as you. Replaced an inaccurate analog needle one with a bar graph one, and it worked for a few weeks. After that it was always at 50%.

Like others said, get a digital readout voltmeter, and learn the voltages. Don't go below 48v when parked/stopped.
Walrus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 09:07 AM   #5
lx5spd
Not Yet Wild
 
lx5spd's Avatar
Yamaha
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 15
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Thanks for the tips everyone! I’ll check the voltage at the meter today and report back.
lx5spd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 09:11 AM   #6
Bama Brad
Gone Wild
Mixed Breed
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ramer, AL
Posts: 1,447
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Get one like this:
https://www.cartsunlimited.net/led-battery-meters.html
Bama Brad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 02:21 PM   #7
lx5spd
Not Yet Wild
 
lx5spd's Avatar
Yamaha
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 15
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Quote:
Originally Posted by CP241 View Post
First, Check your voltage at the meter and compare to what you’ve got at the battery pack + and -. A bad connection can drop a couple volts which is all it takes to drop one of those meters from 100% to 30%

Second, I’d ditch the crappy bar graph or percentage meters and get a decent meter with a voltage readout so you know exactly what’s going on. Keep a SOC chart handy for reference. You won’t need it for very long before you’ve pretty much got it memorized. I’ve used the digital volt meters on Amazon several times with no issues and they’re only 8 or 9 bucks
I measured the voltage at the meter and it dropped from 50.8 V at the batteries to 47.4 V at the wires going into the gauge, so clearly there is an issue there. How can that be remedied?
lx5spd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 02:44 PM   #8
Bama Brad
Gone Wild
Mixed Breed
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Ramer, AL
Posts: 1,447
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bama Brad View Post
I ordered this one 5 years ago and it works great today! Cart gets rained on all the time.
Bama Brad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 04:24 PM   #9
CP241
Nincompoop village idiot
 
CP241's Avatar
Club Car
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Michigan
Posts: 9,625
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Quote:
Originally Posted by lx5spd View Post
I measured the voltage at the meter and it dropped from 50.8 V at the batteries to 47.4 V at the wires going into the gauge, so clearly there is an issue there. How can that be remedied?
Run new wires from the pack to the gauge.

I’d still recommend a digital voltage meter though. Would have saved you some guess work :)

I’ve used 2 or 3 of these and never had a problem. Still have one of them I removed from my cart when I installed my renogy meter

Waterproof Monitor DC 4.5-150V 12/24/36/48V Volt Battery Meter Voltage Tester Automative Electric Cars Gauge Golf Cart E-Bike Bicycle Motorcycle Small Digital Voltmeter 0.56"LED Blue https://a.co/d/iyaGXMw
CP241 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-14-2023, 05:47 PM   #10
lx5spd
Not Yet Wild
 
lx5spd's Avatar
Yamaha
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 15
Default Re: Battery Meter not reading correctly

Quote:
Originally Posted by CP241 View Post
Run new wires from the pack to the gauge.

I’d still recommend a digital voltage meter though. Would have saved you some guess work :)

I’ve used 2 or 3 of these and never had a problem. Still have one of them I removed from my cart when I installed my renogy meter

Waterproof Monitor DC 4.5-150V 12/24/36/48V Volt Battery Meter Voltage Tester Automative Electric Cars Gauge Golf Cart E-Bike Bicycle Motorcycle Small Digital Voltmeter 0.56"LED Blue https://a.co/d/iyaGXMw
I ordered the gauge from Carts Unlimited also. I just want to be able to eliminate all potential issues. 👍

The wiring under the dash is a bit of a maze though. Whoever build the cart dash didn’t put much consideration into later maintenance because the runs of wire are so short I can’t even pull the dash panel 3” from the front body. I might have to take the front body off and access it that way. I used to have a Yamaha G2 gas cart (that I did a Vegas Carts big block swap in my garage), so I’m familiar with body removal on that. I haven’t looked at the mounting points yet on this Club Car.

Thanks again for everyone’s help!
lx5spd is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply
Go Back   Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum > Golf Cart Repair and Troubleshooting > Electric Club Car


Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Forum
Healthy battery pack meter reading... Electric Club Car
Volt Meter not reading correctly Electric Club Car
charger turning off and meter not reading correctly Electric EZGO
Battery meter reading off Electric Club Car
correctly reading an analog state of charge meter Electric EZGO


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:43 PM.


Club Car Electric | EZGO Electric | Lifted Golf Carts | Gas EZGO | Used Golf Carts and Parts

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This Website and forum is the property of Buggiesgonewild.com. No material may be taken or duplicated in part or full without prior written consent of the owners of buggiesgonewild.com. © 2006-2017 Buggiesgonewild.com. All rights reserved.