2003 Club Car DS Questions - 1st time cart owner

[wilsonsk]

I am a 1st time golf cart owner.

I picked up a 2003 Club Car DS. It had new batteries in July, and everything seems to work ok, although the charger doesn't seem to shut off on it's own, it seems to get down to 2 amps or so and sits there indefinitely. I have searched the forum and the internet in general, and it sounds like it could be a few things....

1. Charger has been modified to not shut off?

2. OBC has been bypassed so that it no longer signals the charger to shut off?

3. OBC is malfunctioning/bad and no longer signalling the charger to shut off?

There are probably other potential causes as well, this is what a couple hours on the net got me.

Here are my observations...
A. After 16 hours of charging, the charger continues to charge at about 2 amps

B. While charging, if I turn the key on, the cart will move when the pedal is pressed (I don't believe it should do that).

C. I have never seen the amber battery light do anything.


Other than this the cart seems to work just fine, has plenty of power. I just want to know that everything is working correctly (and that may mean with the OBC bypassed and a timer on the charger) and I get the most life out of the batteries.

I appreciate any and all feedback.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Steve Wilson

[Frizbgolf]

Sounds to me like you may need to reset the OBC there is a sticky in this section that will explain the process. The cart definately should not move when the charger is plugged in unless that safety function has been overridden. I believe that the yellow wire on from the obc to the controller is the one that keeps the cart from moving when the charger is plugged in ( don't quote me on that) there is a sticky that shows the wiring diagram for the obc and controller refer to that. There are a lot of really knowledgeable people on this site so I am sure that someone will jump in and correct me if I am off a little. Hope this helps and happy carting.

[wilsonsk]

I did the OBC reset, still moves while charging. I don't see a yellow wire going to my solenoig like the diagram shows, nor does it look like any wiring has been changed.

I have driven it some, so I put it on the charger, we'll see if any thing changes. Can I put a timer on the charger if it continues to not shut off?


Any other thoughts?

[Sergio]

The way the OBC cart lockout works cannot fail in a "always on" mode.

If you don't see a yellow wire on one of the solenoid small posts, you may have a DS IQ (Serial number starts with AQ03).

Check the OBC 6-pin plug and make sure there is not a "jumper" between the Blue and Red wires.

Also, double check the gray "sense" wire on the back of the cart charger receptacle goes to the OBC and not to the pack negative.

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Following this thread for potential future assistance. Sergio has it handled so far. (As always)

[wilsonsk]

My serial number is AQ0331-305507.

I will check those things when i get home.

I am most concerned about the charger control and the charger shutting off.

[Sergio]

I would too, the charger control not working is a potential fire hazard.

Make sure the charger itself has not been tampered with, leave the DC cord unplugged from the cart and plug the charger into the AC outlet.

You should not hear any humming from the charger and you should not have any voltage on the charger DC plug + and - pins.

[wilsonsk]

I will need to deliver this to my father in law in a couple weeks, if i don't have it fixed i was going to install a timer on the charger, does someone have a good detailed charging regimen? He's detail oriented and will follow to a T.

[Sergio]

I would not try to add a timer to these type of chargers.

The old time chargers called "Ferroresonant" had a "compensating" winding and a capacitor that kind of self-regulated the output voltage. You could wire a timer to those type of chargers.

The powerdrive2 and powerdrive3 chargers are just power supplies, the OBC has all of the charging logic to control voltage and current.

The best thing in the long run is to figure out if the problem is the charger or OBC, the information in the previous posts will help you narrow it down quickly.

[scottyb]

If I have read this tread correctly, these diagnostics are missing a critical piece of information for me.
What is the pack voltage when the 'charger won't shut off' ?