Charging system problem

[dgcars]

My friend has a 77-79 harley? The cart runs fine. The problem is when the charger is plugged in, the ammeter will not move. You put a meter on the 36 volt pack it reads 41-42volts. If you take the solenoids and diodes out of the equation, and hook the batteries up direct with a pigtail. The ammeter on the charger works normal. The volt meter reads 41-42v. What could be the problem?

[jdunmyer]

DG,
Did the charger used to work? What has changed since it last worked?

It sounds to me like the charging socket on the cart is mis-wired. It should be connected directly to the + and - on the battery pack, nothing between them.

The voltage reading isn't quite as expected: it should be just about 38 volts if the pack is fully charged and has been resting for some hours. It should read about 43 when under charge and close to "full".