EZGO Powerwise Charger Issue

[Hi3cho]

So I recently bought a 2003 EZGO PDS cart from a private seller. He advertised as 2015 batteries and mentioned the Charger with new board that he got from work since he works on forklifts. Well the Batteries turned out to be 2012's and basically shot, they would run for 10 min and then completely die. So the test run went fine, but conveniently it was about 10 mins. The charger seemed to work fine, it did hum when plugged in but would kick on when hooked the cart to around 25-30 amp. I plugged it in last night, first day with new batteries. I believe it kicked on at the time but this morning when I went to check on them it was humming but no amps. I figured it had just fully charged them so I went to check the voltage and they hadn't charged at all.

So I watched a few videos today on how to trouble shoot. I get it open to check some things and there is no way it was a new board. It looks like the charger was stored outside, there was dirt, dust, leaves and all kinds of debris inside the case. I believe it is the charging board. It looks like he bypassed the relay which is probably what killed the board. I took continuity reading on all the AC cord, the plug, the diodes, the fuse and everything seemed to check out fine. I did have trouble getting an ohm reading on the capacitor, it said it should be 1.3-1.7. I was having trouble getting a reading at all. I was just using a cheapo harbor freight multimeter so it could have just been me. I ordered the board and capacitor just to be safe.

In the meantime I read that you don't want to keep the batteries discharged so I have them on my 25 amp 12v smart charger, 2 at a time to charge them back up. The board was prime 1 day so will be here tomorrow. I think I am on the right track, I just wanted to see if I missed something, or there is something else I should be doing.

[Hi3cho]

Quick question, what should I be shooting for voltage wise on my 6v batteries. I have read a few different thing one sad 6.37 so 38.2 for all 6. But then I thought I read someone like their new batteries to read 6.6-7. My smart charger said 70% but the batteries were both reading 6.43. Should I let it charge as much as it will take or would it over charge it and "boil" water out? They are brand new batteries so I dont want to mess them up on the first charge.

[JohnnieB]

What Maker and Model are the batteries?
What Make and Model is the charger?

The empirical average for fully charged mature Trojan batteries is 2.122VPC (Volts per Cell), which is 6.366V for a 6V battery.

The empirical average for fully charged mature US Battery batteries is 2.137VPC (Volts per Cell), which is 6.411V for a 6V battery.

New batteries will have a higher At-Rest voltage. At-Rest, means at least 12 hours and less than 24 hours after charging ceases and no discharging has occurred.

SoC charts attached.

Other brand batteries may be the same as Trojan or US battery, or someplace in between.


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The bubbling electrolyte is called gassing and it is normal.

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To be safe, I'd not let the ON-Charge voltage exceed 8.4V for a 6V battery of any brand, unless the were being charged by a charger with dV/dT (change in Voltage over change in Time) technology.


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The first charge for a set of new batteries may last up to 20 hours or so, but usually less than 10 or 12.

[Hi3cho]

They are Interstates 210AH. I want to follow the 50 to 100 percent break in method. My 12v 25amp charger showed 70 percent but I believe that is based on 14.4 per 12v battery and not the actual percentage of what a specific battery can take. I just want to make sure I get to 100%. Hopefully I receive the charging circuit board tomorrow and I can just use the correct charger. At min I got them out of a discharged state

[nickdalzell1]

Make sure you keep the wires on the relay exactly as they came off the old board, or you'll find the charger won't do jack.

If you do get them reversed, just switch them and it should come on.

[Hi3cho]

Checked them this morning before I left for work. Probably 8 hours after taking the last set off the charger and they all read ~6.25 and 37.4 total. So they probably could have taken more of a charge. I watched a few videos on the board install and it seems pretty straight forward.

[Hi3cho]

1st picture is what the inside of the charger looked like before. Then my charger and the model number. Then a pic of the new board installed. So before I was getting a constant hum but stopped engaging when the plug was in the cart. I have no hum which is a good thing now, correct? The board looks to be installed same as the old one except the relay is not bypassed. Anyone see any potential mistakes? I am thinking I still need the capacitor since I didn't get the correct reading. It worries me that the video I watched said the capacitor almost never goes bad. That should be here in a few days. Thoughts?

[bubba4dad]

You should probably just get a new charger before you ruin your brand new batteries. Scottyb has them for $295. DPI Accusense Charger.

That charger you have has seen its better days. Why waste time with it or have the constant worry of if its working or not?

[Hi3cho]

Originally Posted by bubba4dad

You should probably just get a new charger before you ruin your brand new batteries. Scottyb has them for $295. DPI Accusense Charger.

That charger you have has seen its better days. Why waste time with it or have the constant worry of if its working or not?

I agree with you in theory but from everything I read, the older chargers are better than the newer ones. Which are basically unrepairable and junk at least the ones for EZGo. I admit I am not too educated on the DPI charger which from the impression I got was pretty expensive but $300 is not too bad. I cleaned up the charger and have $40 in the board and $30 in the capacitor. If that does not work and a buddy of mine doesn't know how to fix it, I will look into the DPI. I will most likely try the diodes and the fuse, if the capacitor doesn't work. At that point the only old part would be the transformer, the heat sink and the case.

[Hi3cho]

Potential revelation. See the attached picture. This is what my batteries looked like before I replaced them. I was under the impression that I had 5 bad and one good battery. In looking at the picture is it possible the one negative wire on battery 1 is the charging negative and should be on negative battery 6. I do not believe it is currently hooked up and may explain why my charger is not clicking on. This may also explain why it was over charging battery 1 in the first place. I had two wires not connected after the battery change and thought it was the charging gauge pos and negative but just assumed they weren't hooked up bc they wouldn't reach and he never hooked them up. I was planning on re wiring anyway so just tucked it to the side. Will check when I get home.