2004 Precedent won't charge... I've tried usual things.

[Technobuyer]

My son ran my 48v (4 x 12v) Precedent down to nothing with a friend. Upon trying to charge batteries, the charger needle moved a few times, but never about about 5 amps, and then went to zero.

I read about needing to meet a minimum threshold, so I took my car battery
charger, at 10 amps, and charged each battery. The measurements were about 12.4v on each, except for 1 which was 10.2v(and it wouldn't go higher). The total voltage measured over 48v, so I figured I was good, and tried the charger. No luck.

So I ordered a a new charger. Tried it. No luck.

Ordered new OBC.

In the mean time, tried repair function on low battery with NOCO Genius 10 charger. After repair cycle, it still failed to charge, and Charger showed a battery fault.

Got new OBC in, and installed, tried with new charger. No luck.

Low battery is still about 10.2v.

Is it possible for the one low battery to prevent the charger from charging at all?

Is the solution new batteries? Can you replace one, or must you do all?

No lithium isn't in the budget.

There are several golf cart shops around but prices are kinda high. Is there a better place to buy them, and what should I buy?

This cart gets used alot for utilitarian purposes around the property. and I need it back and running again soonest.

Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

[Fairtax4me]

More than likely you have a bad battery cable or a loose connection.
The battery that sits at 10.2v has a dead cell and needs to be replaced, this may not change the charging issue since your pack voltage is still well above the low threshold.

We need to make sure you have pack voltage at the cart charge receptacle.
Check voltage on the Red wire pin with your meter black lead to main pack negative. This should show full pack voltage. If it is less than pack voltage the red charge wire is damaged or has a bad connection to the pack.

[Technobuyer]

Thank you Sir! I'm a newbie to all of this so I apologize in advance for my very basic questions...

If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying to put the red lead from my multimeter on the red pin on the back of the charging receptacle, and the black lead at the negative terminal on the last battery in the series(Battery 4)?

Do I do this in tow(off) position? Thanks again!

[Fairtax4me]

Tow/Run position doesn’t matter for this.

The back of the receptacle is usually sealed up. Just match up which pin is on the front and stick the meter lead in there. Red lead to red wire, black lead to pack main negative.

[Technobuyer]

Thank you!

Ok, I did this and got 46.5v, which is the same as when touching the red pack voltage at Batt number one, and pack negative at Batt #4. So it looks like the connection at the receptacle throughout the pack is ok?

Is there something else I can check next?

[Fairtax4me]

Ok, good start, now check voltage from receptacle Red to Receptacle Black pin.
This should show something like 32-38v depending on a few things. If you get lower than this, there is a problem in the negative charge lead either at the OBC or the B- terminal on the controller.

Next will be the Grey wire at the receptacle. Tug on the back of the grey wire and see if it is frayed or if it falls out of the receptacle. If it does the receptacle will need to be replaced.
If it’s still attached and not corroded/ frayed at the end, then move on to the yellow fuse holder if it has it. Should be just a few inches from the receptacle, but later versions of the precedent they got rid of the fuse so yours may or may not have this. If it does have it check the fuse inside for continuity.
Then Check that the grey wire is properly attached at the OBC.

[Technobuyer]

Checked Red pin receptacle to black pin receptacle. 36.2v

Jiggled gray wire, seems secure. No fuse there, and is plugged securely into back of OBC. Tried all wires, at receptacle and OBC. All secure.

Also, the amber battery warning light is on from time to time, what triggers it to come on, I do not know.

I plugged charger in again just for grins, and heard the click in charger both when plugging charger into cart(before plugging charger into wall), and when removing charger from cart(after unplugging charger from wall). So it would seem voltage is getting back to the charger from the receptacle. If that's helpful.

Again, much appreciative of your help!

[Fairtax4me]

Ok, that all seems to check out.
The click is the relay in the charger being commanded ON by the OBC. The Red wire feeds pack voltage to the relay, then the Grey wire is negative for the relay. The OBC senses voltage on the grey wire and then commands the relay On after a short delay. Usually 5-10 seconds. So assuming there is a correct time length of delay, then the click, OBC and cart side electrics should be working properly.

This leads us to AC power for the charger, or lack-of. Either tripped breaker or bad connection at the wall receptacle.

For curiosity sake, what model number is the original charger, and what is the model number of the new charger?

[Technobuyer]

Tried a different wall outlet on a different circuit. Same result.

The old charger is Lester Power Drive 2 Model 22110. We've had it for 10 years.

The new charger is the newer Lester Links Series equivalent.

It does seem like it wants to charge. After the usual wait it flickers up to about 5 amps, for a split second, and then drops to zero, and that's it...

I guess we're eliminating lots of possible problems! Any more suggestions?

Thanks so much!

[Fairtax4me]

Does he new charger behave the same way? If so then it’s not the charger, you still have a connection issue such as corroded or loose red charge lead (on pack positive) or bad connection of the black charge lead to B- on controller, or faulty OBC.