Batteries Fail to Charge

[steitzel]

I received as a gift a 2004 Precedent Club Car that had new batteries this summer. Everything worked fine until we left our vacation home for a few months and did not leave the charger plugged in. When we returned the cart was "dead", unable to run though lights/blinkers/backup buzzer worked. We plugged in the charger overnight to bring the system back up to full charge but found same status in the morning.

Checking the charging, we are getting 48V when first starting to charge, batteries are registering 15V but now the charger shuts off after charging for about 5 Min.

Apart from learning my lesson about leaving the cart plugged in, what's the trick for troubleshooting the charging/batteries to bring this back up to full charge? Do I need to reset the OBC? How do I tell if the batteries are bad or the charger is bad?

[erict]

Originally Posted by steitzel

I received as a gift a 2004 Precedent Club Car that had new batteries this summer. Everything worked fine until we left our vacation home for a few months and did not leave the charger plugged in. When we returned the cart was "dead", unable to run though lights/blinkers/backup buzzer worked. We plugged in the charger overnight to bring the system back up to full charge but found same status in the morning.

Checking the charging, we are getting 48V when first starting to charge, batteries are registering 15V but now the charger shuts off after charging for about 5 Min.

Apart from learning my lesson about leaving the cart plugged in, what's the trick for troubleshooting the charging/batteries to bring this back up to full charge? Do I need to reset the OBC? How do I tell if the batteries are bad or the charger is bad?

What voltage does your total pack read, 15v? You need your pack to have at least 36v for the charger to turn on.

[shadowman]

you said 48 volt when 1st starting to charge? thats not right something isn,t working.............are they 12 volt or 8 volt batteries?...............try resetting OBC its in the stickies how to.................................

[steitzel]

Okay, so if batteries are at 15v now and need to be at 35v for charger to work, then how do you charge the batteries to bring them up to 3V for the clubcar charger to work with them?

[scottyb]

You can charge them 2 at a time with an automotive charger.

Or you can open and jumper the charger, defeating it's safety device at your own risk.

[erict]

Originally Posted by steitzel

Okay, so if batteries are at 15v now and need to be at 35v for charger to work, then how do you charge the batteries to bring them up to 3V for the clubcar charger to work with them?

Use a regular charger and charge each battery up to get the total pack high enough for the charger to turn on. Do you have 6 or 12 volt batteries?

[scubabud]

Originally Posted by steitzel

I received as a gift a 2004 Precedent Club Car that had new batteries this summer. Everything worked fine until we left our vacation home for a few months and did not leave the charger plugged in. When we returned the cart was "dead", unable to run though lights/blinkers/backup buzzer worked. We plugged in the charger overnight to bring the system back up to full charge but found same status in the morning.

Checking the charging, we are getting 48V when first starting to charge, batteries are registering 15V but now the charger shuts off after charging for about 5 Min.

Apart from learning my lesson about leaving the cart plugged in, what's the trick for troubleshooting the charging/batteries to bring this back up to full charge? Do I need to reset the OBC? How do I tell if the batteries are bad or the charger is bad?

When you got back to your cart were the batteries dry? Did you just add water and try to charge them back up? How can you have a 48 volt pack and 15 volts at the batteries? If each battery is 15 volts then your pack voltage would be 60 volts.

[steitzel]

Has been a while, but need to update. Was able to get back to this problem and disconnected the batteries and charged them to 95percent then put back together and the club charger is charging again.....letting them charge overnight.

[shadowman]

Originally Posted by steitzel

Has been a while, but need to update. Was able to get back to this problem and disconnected the batteries and charged them to 95percent then put back together and the club charger is charging again.....letting them charge overnight.

.............thanks for update............................

[steitzel]

Final answer: After final overnight charging, batteries were at 98% to fully charged...however the cart still did not engage and run. All lights, back-up-sound, blinkers, etc worked but the drive did not engage. I finalized charge individually to each battery to fully charged. Drive still did not engage.

Then worked to reset the OBC but this process did not work per process in posts in this forum. Drive still did not engage.

Then called in advanced technical support....(ie, friend in neighborhood) we then removed the control panel in the battery box to review wiring and ensure no loose wires. When drive activated, it sounded like solenoid would not engage, and after applying advanced technical diagnostics (ie, wiggling wires and finding no loose connections, etc)......drive engaged and cart now runs and charge fine.

Root cause analysis failed but problem solved (for now) and cart continues to run and charge well.