1986 Ezgo textron 20L4 charger question

[Bluegill]

Hello , new to golf carts , found an 86 ezgo marathon for riding around house and maybe use hunting. The previous owner had told me had bought one new battery , trying to replace 1 at a time. Well when I bought it , I went ahead and bought 5 new batteries, after charging they all read 6.3 volts. My question is should this textron 20L4, shutoff when fully charge. I set timer and it has yet to shutoff and have noticed strong smell of overcharging. It's says it is a semi automatic charger in manual. Thank you and really enjoy reading forum.

[mutant]

if you let it sit 12hrs after charge-what is the total pack voltage?
if it is a 36v cart it should read about 38.20 pack voltage...i dont have any knowledge of that charger-but it would seem if you have reached that voltage after 12 hours of rest-your charger is not seeing that it has fully charged the pack and that has to be addressed.
good luck!

[JohnnieB]

The "20L4" on the label is a UL listing rather than a model number.

How the charger is described in the cart manual is more or less irrelevant since the charger with the cart now isn't likely to be the one that came with it 30 years ago.

I suspect you have one of the two types of changers pictured below. Both came in a variety of case colors and label colors, so disregard the colors and look closely at the timer in the upper left.

If the first number clockwise from OFF is a "1", like pictured in the first attachment, you have a manual charger with timer. That type charger stays on for however long the timer is set for.

If the first number clockwise from OFF is a "11", like pictured in the second attachment, you have an automatic charger with a mechanical backup timer. That type charger shuts off when the battery pack's On-Charge voltage climbs into the 44V to 46V range, or when the 12hr timer ties out if the On-Charge voltage doesn't reach the predetermined shutoff voltage.

Which type do you have?

[Bluegill]

Thanks for the replies. The charger I have is the first one that is manual , that's what I was looking for. Ok , guess I'll have to keep an eye out on overcharging until I can buy an automatic. Thanks again !

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Bluegill

Thanks for the replies. The charger I have is the first one that is manual , that's what I was looking for. Ok , guess I'll have to keep an eye out on overcharging until I can buy an automatic. Thanks again !

Turn the timer down to about 4 hours after it starts.
Check the voltage about 12 hours after charger shuts off and it should be about 38.2V.
If not, set timer for longer than 4 hours.


Best bang for the buck is the DPI Accusense charger. It uses dV/dT (Change in Voltage over change in Time) to determine when battery is fully charged and float charges after the regular charge cycle ends, so the batteries stay fully charged when not used for long periods of time. http://www.cartsunlimited.net/battery-chargers.html

[Bluegill]

Thanks for info will do.