batteries dead overnight

[Mooncarter]

Do you have a cable hooked to 3 batteries for reverse?

[Wronglong]

To summarize, I have a Club Car 36v A9011201740, 1990. It ran fine and when the batteries got low, it would slow as expected. I'd charge it and it was ok. Plugged it in one morning and the charger would not kick in. As a precaution I disconnected the primary ground cable. All batt wet as normal. The batteries were way down, well below 6 on 4 of them so I charged them individually, then hooked up the regular charger. It pumped 20 amps longer than usual and boiled one batt. I now have 2 batts at 6.3 and the rest pretty well gone. When i jacked up the cart after charging the wheels moved good in forward but first slowly then stopped in reverse. I suspect a failure that drained the batts but it is just a guess as I am a newbie. Nothing was left on to begin with. Looking for ideas or test procedures for any possible failed components.

[mrgolf]

Sounds like batteries are shot. Measure voltage on reverse batteries when trying to go in reverse. Most likely you will have very low voltage. When you get new batteries keep them fully charged and they will last longer.

[Wronglong]

Just so I can learn...which are the reverse batteries? I take it all 6 batts used to go forward but only two for reverse. Also in your opinion does this sound like just batteries going out.

[Golf cart guy]

OK 1990 36 volt cart.

Stuck solenoid will drain the batteries over night the way you stated. Or like I stated in my post, when the brake gets locked, the accelerator pedal moves enough to activate the solenoid and its on. The coils should however be like a toaster and are red hot.

Get the cart charged, put it in gear and see if its a "ghost rider". Youll have your answer then.

[Sergio]

You would also have to have forgotten the key switch ON (and FNR in gear) since the pedal micro-switch alone cannot activate the solenoid.

On a single Solenoid Resistor cart a stuck solenoid would only need the FNR in gear to drain the batteries since the VGlide at rest completes the circuit through all the resistor coils.

[alchemy]

I believe you said that 4 batteries will not take or hold a charge now and are shot. You are probably going to need some kind of working batteries in it to even figure it out although I understand you don't want to ruin more batteries. You need to watch it like a hawk while testing or checking stuff and leave them disconnected otherwise. You can check some stuff by resistance with a multimeter.
A stuck solenoid as being mentioned can be checked with a multimeter, right guys? Unless it's intermittent?
BTW, and I've been wanting to say this, a solenoid is a solenoid. They are all basically the same and any will work as long as it's enough amps and the coil volts are the same and match to whether it should be the normally on or normally off type. They are just a heavy switch powered by a coil that closes or opens the contacts instead of like a light switch where you do it by hand. I say this for myself as well because for some reason I always keep forgetting how simple they are and how simple to check. I used a cheap generic 10.00 ez go solenoid to replace my 100.00(?) yamaha solenoid and it's been on there for years. The good ole external ford starter solenoid might even work if the coil is 12V.
What makes a solenoid stick? The rod, something keep the coil energized?

[Sergio]

Making or Breaking contact while under load will cause material transfer between the surfaces of the Solenoid contacts and they start to work like Velcro surfaces so next time the solenoid is deactivated the contacts sticky together rather then releasing.

It is also important on a resistor cart to not have a diode on the solenoid coil as it causes the contacts to take longer to release.

There are quite a lot of different types of Solenoids depending on the specific application: Magnetic Blowouts, continuous duty operation, PWM economizer coils, multiple coils, latching coils, etc. You should not substitute Solenoids unless You understand the application.

[alchemy]

I have seen contact points where both points are on one side melted or stuck together and at first it looks normal. :)
"unless You understand the application" yes.

edit: And as a matter of fact he mentioned extreme heat? Just first check the two big terminals on the solenoid and see if it has continuity (or volts on both sides if batteries still connected) with the small wires disconnected. It should have none, right? I don't know that he has even traced it to the main cables yet though?

[Wronglong]

Hi all. First let me say thanks for all the great info and help. Now. For the last couple days I put a maintenance charge on the batteries individually while the main ground was disconnected. They all got to 6.2 to 6.7. Then I tested each of the 3 leads on the main negative post for draw. 2 read zero and one at .01 amp.(normal for the voltage gage.) Then I reconnected the main ground and put the normal charger on. It read 16.5 amps charge. Decided to make a test run. Got in the cart, moved the shifter to forward and the cart took off! Key was not on. So I've found my draw. It is whatever component would move the cart without the key on. I'm guessing key switch or solenoid? What are your thoughts?