Why won't my charger go below 20 amps?

[smokey tennis shoe]

I have a 42 volt western cart.

The batteries measure good, and are only 2 years old. My charger never turns off, and never goes below 20 amps.

I tried my charger on another cart, and it worked fine on the other cart.

Next, I tried a know good charger on my cart, and again, the good charger would not shut off and would not go lower than 20 amps.

It seems like my batteries are just boiling. They are charging, but I am afraid I am charging too much. I let the charge run for a couple days, on 2 different occassiions, and still 20 amps.

So there is a problem with the cart, since the chargers work on other carts.

Suggestions????

[sportcoupe]

Take voltage readings on each battery and report back. You don't have to disconnect any cables.

[JohnnieB]

Sounds like you've got one or more bad cells.

Most chargers stay in the bulk charge phase (High amps) until they sense about 2.35VPC (Volts per Cell), which would be a bit over 49V for a 42V battery pack.

Monitor your pack voltage while on charge and if it isn't climbing above 49V, the charger(s) will never reduce the amps they are putting out.

You can also measure the individual battery voltages while on charge.
The 6V battery or batteries that are staying below 7.0V while on charge are the bad ones.

[smokey tennis shoe]

Thanks, I will try measuring them while on the charger.

I was thinking it was going to be either a problem with the charge receptacle, bad wires, or possibly a weak battery.

But I so much appreciate you guys helping. I will check them out on Thursday, and will report back,
Thanks again!