Oh no, What Now!?

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Second MCs suggestion. Bad cable or loose connection. Are your cable ends crimped or soldered?

On Which side of the solenoid were you measuring voltage? If that was on the battery side that points to a bad connection.
A bad solenoid will should cause the voltmeter on the dash to go crazy, but that depends where the voltmeter is getting it’s power from.


No. The diode protects the rest of the circuit, generally the switches that activate the solenoid. The presence or lack-of a diode has no effect on the solenoid itself.

Cable ends crimped

I was measuring voltage before and after. Right from the battery the voltage was matching the weird numbers measured at the dash voltmeter.

The voltage going to the controller was zero.

The dash voltmeter was directly wired to the battery pack. Bypassing all the electricals on the cart.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by RNajarian

.

The dash voltmeter was directly wired to the battery pack. Bypassing all the electricals on the cart.

Which is why I said I think you have a bad connection or possibly bad battery.

Hook a fluke or another real multimeter to the pack + and - and try and drive the cart. Watch the voltage and let us know what the pack does.

[Fairtax4me]

Grab all the battery cables and give them a firm tug. See which one falls apart.

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by CP241

Which is why I said I think you have a bad connection or possibly bad battery.

Hook a fluke or another real multimeter to the pack + and - and try and drive the cart. Watch the voltage and let us know what the pack does.

I removed the wiring (at the battery pack) to the dash voltmeter and the symptoms stayed the same.

I tested each battery individually and they all registered 8.6 or 8.7 volts.

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

Grab all the battery cables and give them a firm tug. See which one falls apart.

I’m not near the cart now, but next time I’ll yank on the cables.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by RNajarian

I removed the wiring (at the battery pack) to the dash voltmeter and the symptoms stayed the same.

I tested each battery individually and they all registered 8.6 or 8.7 volts.




I’m not near the cart now, but next time I’ll yank on the cables.

I don’t think the meter in the dash is causing symptoms. It is a symptom itself. if it is flickering it’s an indicator the batteries or battery cables have a bad connection somewhere. It could even be corrosion inside a cable where you can’t see it. As I explained earlier, unloaded voltage is COMPLETELY different than loaded voltage. A cable with a bad connection will read perfectly fine when there’s no load. If a cable or battery is bad or have a bad connection, voltage will plummet when a load is applied. The larger the load the more it will drop.

Use a real meter not the one in the dash. I don’t trust those when it comes to diagnosing anything, they have a really slow refresh rate and accuracy is questionable.

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by CP241

I don’t think the meter in the dash is causing symptoms. It is a symptom itself. if it is flickering it’s an indicator the batteries or battery cables have a bad connection somewhere. It could even be corrosion inside a cable where you can’t see it. As I explained earlier, unloaded voltage is COMPLETELY different than loaded voltage. A cable with a bad connection will read perfectly fine when there’s no load. If a cable or battery is bad or have a bad connection, voltage will plummet when a load is applied. The larger the load the more it will drop.

Use a real meter not the one in the dash. I don’t trust those when it comes to diagnosing anything, they have a really slow refresh rate and accuracy is questionable.

I’ve got a Fluke, I’ll inspect the cables. Thanks

[WalterM6]

One thing you mentioned rang a bell. You mentioned that you hear no reverse buzzer. The component that would cause that could be the OBC. You might read up in the sticky's how to bypass the OBC with a paperclip. This is assuming you have a OBC.

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by WalterM6

One thing you mentioned rang a bell. You mentioned that you hear no reverse buzzer. The component that would cause that could be the OBC. You might read up in the sticky's how to bypass the OBC with a paperclip. This is assuming you have a OBC.

I’m still relatively new to the cart world. The cart has DS/Precedent components and is a series cart. I am not sure if there is an OBC, though I don’t think so.

Could the black component immediately to the right of the controller the OBC? The wiring diagram leads me to believe it is an on/off solenoid.

[Fairtax4me]

The black box is the reversing contactor.
I don’t see any OBC in that picture unless it’s mounted elsewhere on the cart.
The OBC requires a club car charger. If you have a smart charger or just about Any other brand of charger other than Club Car, then the cart will not have an OBC.

Something I notice in that pic, the main cables going to the solenoid are not in direct contact with the solenoid posts. The resistor and what appears to be one other wire are on the posts first, and the main cables are on top of those. That creates a poor connection to the post, and creates high resistance. Those should be switched around, the main cables on the post First, and the smaller wires go on top of those.

Wouldn't hurt to make sure that resistor is good while you have the solenoid out.

[RNajarian]

Thanks Fairtax and everyone else for the help.

I’m going to see if I can get the solenoid tested tomorrow. Regardless, I’ve got new cables that I will install. I’m seriously considering replacing the solenoid anyway with a higher rated one. Currently I have a SW180 max rated 200a. I may put the SW200 in, max amp rated 400