I need to equalize...how to go about it?

[Russ/TN]

My pack is out of balance with voltages ranging from 6.31 -6.39 VDC after a charge and a rest.
I have a charger (Powerwise II) but it does not have that option.
How should I go about getting back in balance?
I have both a 6 volt and a 12 volt charger, but they are both simple automotive
chargers with set parameters.
Any advise?

04 PDS-36 Volt-Alltrax 400DCX PDS

[TrickCart]

I know this is a few years old but it was never answered. I'd rather bump than make a new thread

[Russ/TN]

I used the 12 volt automotive charger to charge pairs of 6 volt batteries till
they came back into spec.
Then I switched all of my lights and acessories to a designated 12 volt batt. that I charge seperately.

Russ.

[cgtech]

A good way (but a pain) would be to disconnect all cables, and configure all the positives together, and all the negatives together, as shown. This turns all the batteries into 1 large 6v battery. Then charge the one single battery with your automotive charger.

[sportcoupe]

If you parallel the batteries as cgtech suggests you don't even have to charge, just let them sit 24-48 hours and they will self equalize. You don't need heavy wire either, 12 AWG will be plenty.

[kab69440]

Sunking must have spent a week typing this explanation out...

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...technique.html

[JohnnieB]

Prevention is the best cure.

First and foremost, don't discharge the battery pack unequally. IE: Power 12V accessories from a separate 12V battery or use a 36V (or whatever the pack voltage is) to 12V voltage reducer to power them.

Second, use a charger that doesn't shut off until the On-charge voltage ceases to increase (dV/dT technology). IE: Chargers that shut off at a preselected voltage, such as the PW-II mention in Post#1 and other legacy chargers, tend to make slight imbalances due to the normal (unavoidable) variances in SoC and storage capacity grow and worsen over time.

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If the battery pack is imbalanced because it has been tapped for 12V, use a 12V charger to fully charge the batteries used to get 12V. The cables do not have to be disconnected.

Let those batteries rest for about an hour and then use the regular cart battery charger to charge the entire pack.

If the pack is still imbalanced, repeat the above steps until acceptable balance (all batteries within 0.1V of each other at rest) is achieved.

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Get rid of the 12V accessory tap on the battery pack and balance can be maintained by running back-to-back charges about once a month.

Periodic back-to-back charges also helps to maintain the balance between individual cells within the batteries as well. (A 36V battery pack is actually eighteen 2V cells connected in series, they just happen to be packaged three 2V cells in a box for a 6V battery.)

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by kab69440

Sunking must have spent a week typing this explanation out...

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...technique.html

A ton of good info in the thread linked to.