Textron Charger Auto-Shutoff

[lakerattx]

I've owned my 90 36v Marathon for a few years and have fixed and upgraded a ton with the help of this forum. However I've never been able to figure out why my Textron charger will not auto shut off. I've left it running for many hours and verified that my batts are fully charged using a hydrometer, a volt meter and the trojan charging guide. A neighbor with the same issue took his to a local repair shop and was told that the problem was with the cart and not the charger..sounds like a load of crap.

Is there any way of testing my charger (or cart) to determine what the heck the problem is? The attached pic is identical to my charger. Also, replaced my batteries last fall. Thanks!

[scottyb]

We need some hard info.
Type of batteries
Individual Battery Voltage and S/G readings before charge
Highest voltage and S/G readings during charge

I am going to assume ALL cable and charger connections are very clean and tight.

[lakerattx]

These are Sams Interstate batteries. Brand new 4 gauge cables and all connections are tight and clean.

The batteries are fully charged. The specific gravity on all cells is above 1.300. Voltage readings on the batteries are between 6.33 and 6.37, total voltage 38.1

[rib33024]

You say you let the charger run for MANY hours, what is many hours??

And how long did you let the batteries sit off the charger, before you took these reading

[lakerattx]

I've left the charger running for 8 hours even though I was sure that they didnt need charging. The readings in my previous post were taken 2 days after charging for just a few hours.

[lakerattx]

The charger has now been running for 6 hours since I posted the S/G and voltage readings this morning and the Amp meter on the charger is almost bottomed out near 0.. Those batteries HAVE to be fully charged by now, right? Why does the charger not shut off?

[bolter]

I can't remember the exact timing, but the timing relay I believe will auto shut off after 10 hours. You are bottomed out at almost 0 as the finishing charge for the batteries. eventually it should time out and shut completely off, but it's not just because the voltages are up.

[lakerattx]

Sorry I should have clarified. The charger actually will shutoff when the timer hits 0. Its the auto sensing shutoff that is broken.

[FIXEROFCARTS]

On that charger you turn it to start and it tells you how many hours it took to charge. It was geared towards golf courses, so the mechanic could walk down the line in the morning and check the carts easy.

That timer had problems, I'd 86 it, and put a lester electronic timer in it and be done forever.

[lakerattx]

I agree that an electronic timer would be superior but I was unable to find an inexpensive conversion kit. I ordered a new OEM power board for $70 with shipping.

Thanks fixer!