96 club car gen/regulator/solenoid issues

[Dandeeman305]

Hey guys.

Here is a quick breakdown. I bought this cart a few months back running just fine. After a week of daily use the starter generator took a crap (it's the original one it came with from factory) so I wasn't surprised when it went out. Well when I installed new starter generator I noticed it was not charging the battery. Did all the diagnostic tests and found out the voltage regulator went out. So I replaced the vg. All works well. ....side note when I bought the cart the guy told me he just replaced the solenoid and vg. So they were both new (aftermarket).

Ok all running great for a few weeks. Now the solenoid went out. Replaced with new oem club car one. Now cart stars fine but the battery is overcharging now 17+ volts.

Ok.. wtf lol. So I started looking around for bad connections cant find any. In the process of tinkering around I went ahead and disconnected the red wire from the vg that goes to the solenoid assuming it will stop the charging. I know the yellow wire coming from start gen is the one that sends power back and it goes through the vg then back to solenoid to charge battery. Now although I disconnected the red wire when I fire it up it still overcharging. Only way to not overcharge is if I disconnect the yellow wire. My question is why is it still over charging if I disconnected only the red wire coming from the vg to the solenoid?

[Fairtax4me]

Without the red wire the Voltage regulator has no reference so it will command full charge from the SG. The yellow wire is negative for the field coil in the SG and the regulator changes how much current is allowed through the field coil to regulate charge output voltage. Current regulation is based on charge voltage feedback from the red wire which is connected to the charge output cable on the solenoid. Charging is done through the White cable back to the battery positive through the solenoid.
The regulator does need a clean ground in order to work properly. If the ground is poor it can go to full output or that can also cause it to fail. The black wire needs to have a clean connection to chassis ground. If it’s only grounded to the center stud that holds the regulator then try grounding the black wire to the frame or directly to battery negative.
Where did you get the current regulator?

[Dandeeman305]

Amazon . Worked well then the solenoid went out. Replaced it and now it's overcharging