Battery's taking a ton of water

[Desert Bill]

1/2 gallon last 24 hours. Still not all the way charged. Each batt seems to be equally thirsty. Charger indicating 8 volts, yellow light blinking...not steady as in the beginning, but does not want to get charged all the way. Going on 23 hours for this charge cycle interupted only to add distilled water. Added water yesterday and again today.

2003 Ez-go, txt, 42 volt (western) centinnel batts less than 3 years old.

Any comments?

[TDAWG]

Gonna need individual battery voltage readings. At rest, and at close to end of charge cycle while still charging.

[Desert Bill]

Yes. Also have dash meter and never let it get below 75%.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Desert Bill

1/2 gallon last 24 hours. Still not all the way charged. Each batt seems to be equally thirsty. Charger indicating 8 volts, yellow light blinking...not steady as in the beginning, but does not want to get charged all the way. Going on 23 hours for this charge cycle interupted only to add distilled water. Added water yesterday and again today.

2003 Ez-go, txt, 42 volt (western) centinnel batts less than 3 years old.

Any comments?

Is that 8 Volts or 8 Amps????

What Make/Model charger????

What AH Centennial 6V Batteries????

Sounds like you have a battery failure, or a charger failure.

Basically, the charger isn't shutting off and batteries are staying in the gassing stage.

Be careful with sparks and open flames, they are generating a lot of explosive gasses (Hydrogen and Oxygen)

[Desert Bill]

1. 8amps
2. Centennial GC2200P
3. western Accusense charger/maintainer 42v 14 amp

[JohnnieB]

Western Accusense charger was made by DPI, and is an earlier version of the 42V charger they sell now, which is what I use on my 42V system.

I'm not 100% sure because they may have changed, but on my DPI Accusense charger a blinking Yellow LED means the charger is in the Pre-Qualification stage.

That means it is looking for the On-Charge voltage of the 42V pack to climb above 36.75V to advance to the Bulk Charge phase.

When you initiate the charge cycle, does the ammeter ever climb into the normal 14A (or above) range?

What is the pack voltage while the charger is pumping out 8A?

Also, what are the voltages of each of the seven batteries while they are being charged at 8A?

If one (or more) of the batteries is considerably lower than the rest, it is probably bad.

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The charger board could also be bad, but the pack and individual battery On-Charge voltages should point us in the right direction.

[JohnnieB]

Also, if you happen to have any pictures of the faceplate and innards of your charger, pleas post them so I can add them to my stash.

This is the only one I've got and it doesn't show all that much.

[Desert Bill]

Thanks JB. Initial steady yellow, near top of amp range, then after a charge period, backing down, blinking yellow, then would usually turn to green.

Thinking of taking charger in to have tested...golf cart repair shop close. Is the charger test a long bench test process, or instant diagnostics?

[JohnnieB]

I suspect the local cart shop would connect it to seven known good 6V batteries connected in series and see if it ran through a charge cycle.

If it didn't, they would replace a $133.07 board and probably charge you $200-$250 for the repair while a new 42V DPI Accusense only cost $285.00.

If you measure the battery voltages while the the 8A are flowing through them with a handheld DVM, we will know if a battery pack has a bad battery in it, or the control board in the charger is bad.

I'm about 99.9% sure the problem is either a $135 battery or a $135 board.

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If you can't do it yourself, than take both the cart and charger in and have the batteries load tested first.

I'm leaning more towards a battery issue than a charger issue.

[Desert Bill]

I can pick up a DVM. Can I measure the voltage while they are all connected in series?