G19 all charger lights flashing - only two batteries low

[rivercity1941]

Recently bought an old golf course G19 from my neighbor that has been used around neighborhood. He bought it from previous home owner, so I've known the cart for a decade. New batteries a year ago. Quit and they couldn't figure out why? Bought and pushed home and put two plus gallons of distilled water to top off. Previous owners didn't know you needed to add water. Cleaned connections and it ran well for months but not a lot of range.

Then it quit after a block on full, event free charge. Got it home and charged overnight to only to find all lights flashing the next day. Apparently too low to charge with entire bank at just 26 V.

All batteries are right at 8.0 V except the two behind driver which are just over 2V each. These are the two with the heavy, red cables running to the rear of the cart, so I suspect that may be related. All batteries have measured out to over 8 V when I bought it and cleaned everything up.

Any suggestions? Replace batteries? Charge each together or separately with large 12V car charger (2amps setting for a few minutes? Switch batteries around? What do two wires go to in the rear?

I'm lost. Thanks.

[teecro]

Assuming that since the batteries were run dry that they are likely toast, hence the limited range. The two that are reading 2 volts need to be brought up some before the charger can kick in again. You can do this with a 12 volt charger without disconnecting cables. Just connect the charger to the discharged batteries one at a time for a few minutes each to get their voltage up and over 6 volts. But in the end they are toast and you need to replace then. Better to replace all at once and start fresh as they were abused...

[rivercity1941]

Thanks, teecro!

I'll give it a try. We have a Club Car we keep elsewhere, and I really wanted another one for home. This Yamaha is pretty clean and I got it for $500, so I am OK on it. Just need to decide if I want to pour $$$ into it or put it toward another Club Car. The Yamaha is hard to find anything about locally or even online.

The neighbors actually sold this one when someone gave them a newer Yamaha. My neighborhood probably has 200+ carts and less than 1% probably know how to check the oil in their car, much less fill up their batteries. A neighbor said I should start a part-time business checking / filling batteries for a monthly fee. A very helpful member/dealer on here suggested that could be lucrative for the small amount of hours involved.

[cgtech]

8x4+2+2(not =)26. Something here not right. The "all lights flashing forever" does add up to low voltage on a MAC charger tho.

[teecro]

Originally Posted by cgtech

8x4+2+2(not =)26. Something here not right. The "all lights flashing forever" does add up to low voltage on a MAC charger tho.

26 36 who's counting....

[rivercity1941]

Originally Posted by cgtech

8x4+2+2(not =)26. Something here not right. The "all lights flashing forever" does add up to low voltage on a MAC charger tho.

Hmmm. Was thinking I need to recheck the batteries. Same results.

Four batteries around 8V. other two around 2V. Measure across from passenger side . Added each battery one at a time. At battery four, I got 32V. Added battery five, and it dropped to 28.5V. Added battery six and it dropped to just over 26V. Makes no sense. But as mentioned in the original post, there are two heavy cables from battery six and battery five going back to rear of cart. Otherwise, it is just six batteries in a series.

I also charged the two low batteries with my car charger for a few minutes individually until they were near 6V. Then plugged in the charger and it began charging normally overnight. Just checked and it is fully charged. Unplugged for a while and will recheck and test drive when it warms up today.

The only other suspicious thing is that I have noticed batteries 5 and six (drive side) are often considerably lower when refilling.

I have heard Yamahas are a mystery to most Club Car / EZ Go fans, and now I am beginning to know why. Any ideas? Maybe a problem in the back causing a short that drags them down?

[cgtech]

Take a pic of the entire battery pack so we can see their direction and cable routing. I would bet the two trouble batteries are supplying your lights. You have lights, right?

[teecro]

Originally Posted by rivercity1941

... Four batteries around 8V. other two around 2V. Measure across from passenger side . Added each battery one at a time. At battery four, I got 32V. Added battery five, and it dropped to 28.5V. Added battery six and it dropped to just over 26V. Makes no sense. But as mentioned in the original post, there are two heavy cables from battery six and battery five going back to rear of cart. Otherwise, it is just six batteries in a series.

Generally the only time you see voltage not adding up is when something or someone has caused the issue. A battery can become reverse polarized if discharged and then recharged backwards. There is something screwy going on at batteries 5 and 6 with that heave cable at 5 and 6. Should be heavy cables at 1 and 6 only unless somebody diddled the wiring up...

[rivercity1941]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Take a pic of the entire battery pack so we can see their direction and cable routing. I would bet the two trouble batteries are supplying your lights. You have lights, right?

Here are pics of the wiring. Seems OK to me per cable schematic.

Cables off first two driver side go to box in back with a clear cover (fuzzy pic). I also included where each end of the runs go.

After charging over night, package was at 48.0V, with four good at just over 8V and two end, weaker ones at just under 8V. Took it around the block. Ran great for a block or two until the first hill. Next hill was longer and it struggled. Total of 1/4 mile and it was struggling to get home. Medium/slow on final flat stretch.

[rivercity1941]

more pics...