2006 EZ GO PDS --- 2.5 year old batteries seem to die?

[JohnnieB]

That charger ought to charge those batteries to 100% SoC.

Those are economy grade batteries and won't last as long as standard grade or premium grade batteries, but should still have an at-rest voltage of about 38.2V even if they won't store enough energy to propel the cart around the block two times.

The first thing to figure out is why are the batteries not being charged to 38.V.

What does the charger's ammeter read when the charger first turns on? Should be close to 20A.


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The batteries have been damaged by being undercharged for a period of time, but some useful life may be recoverable.

[dankfoot]

Johnnie,

Tonight I will try my neighbors charger. I will try to time the charge and then do a voltage test. If his charges my batteries higher then it would seem its my charger. Correct?

If not, it's my batteries?

[JohnnieB]

Yep.

If it turns out to be the charger, replace it with a DPI Accuse and leave it plugged into cart when cart is not actively in use.

Technically, a lead-acid battery isn't fully charged until the on-charge voltage stop increasing and the DPI uses dV/dT (change in Voltage over change in Time) technology to determine when to terminate regular charge cycle rather than shutting off at predetermined on-charge voltage and then the DPI goes into float charge after the regular charge cycle finishes.

The net result is your batteries stay fully charged and last longer.

[cgtech]

The new DPI chargers have changed. According to DPI, they don't do float mode anymore. They say this is to meet energy efficiency requirements already in place in several states, and that appear to be on the way for all of us. They say the charger automatically resets every 28 days to keep the batteries full.

[dankfoot]

Assuming its my charger, can't I just fix mine?

That would be much cheaper correct?

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by cgtech

The new DPI chargers have changed. According to DPI, they don't do float mode anymore. They say this is to meet energy efficiency requirements already in place in several states, and that appear to be on the way for all of us. They say the charger automatically resets every 28 days to keep the batteries full.

That's odd.....as I just got a new 48v DPI charger last fall and it does go to float mode.

of course the charger could have been an older (NOS) version that was still in Scotty's inventory.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by dankfoot

Assuming its my charger, can't I just fix mine?

That would be much cheaper correct?

Yes it is repairable.
You can get replacement parts for everything that is in it, but it is less expensive to buy a new charger than buying a new transformer, if the transformer is bad.

The most common failures are the diodes, capacitor and control board. The first two can often be obtained locally and cost under $25. The control board is a bit over $100 and you'll have to replace the original two piece board with a one piece board, but that's fairly easy to do.

If we find out if the charger is the problem, we can troubleshoot it.

[dankfoot]

Thanks Guys for all the help.

It's on my neighbors charger right now. Its been 1 hour so far.

I did a voltage test while it was charging and it measured.

43.6 pack
7.2 battery (I only checked one)

Not sure if the above helps any.

[dankfoot]

Ok Guys,

My neighbors charger has now stopped. It charged between 2:20 hours to 2:30 hours

The amperage on the charger gauge shows 9

I tested each battery and they are between 6.11 and 6.14 (most were 6.13)

The pack is measuring 36.8

So what now?

[Dixie Chopper]

Do you have a multi-meter? If so, you should load test the batteries individually. It is possible that one or two batteries are bad causing the whole pack to look bad.