power wise charger/recepticle question

[sprocket]

My power wise charger wasn't acting right the last while and yesterday it wouldn't work at all. I described before that it tries to charge but the amp meter just snaps back to zero. I sent it to the dealer this morning with my mother in law, and they told her there was something wrong with the charger and they would need to take it apart. Well I'm at work and couldn't be reached so she just took it back home. This aft I phoned over and the tech guy is gone for the day. If it just needs a board I'm sure I could change it out. One question I have though is I wash my cart regularly and was thinking about water getting into the cart recepticle. Any thoughts on what I can check for? Thanks.

[JohnnieB]

Do you hear the charger's relay click when you plug the charger into the cart before plugging the charger into AC power.
If so, the control board is most likely good.

Sounds like you've either got some bad contacts in the charger plug/receptacle, or a broken wire in the charger cable.

The Radsosks (contacts) in both the charger's plug and the cart's receptacle should be clean, bright and shiny like the ones in the attachment.

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When the ammeter suddenly drops to Zero, does the charger's transformer continue to hum, or does it get quiet?

If it stops humming, the battery sense circuit is bad. The battery is sensed via Auxiliary contact in the plug touching the outside of the negative radsok in the receptacle.

If the humming continues, the negative wire in the charger's output cable is intermittent.

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If you can get the charger to work bu wiggling the plug in the receptacle, the Radsoks are bad and need to be replaced.

[sprocket]

Hey Johnnieb, yes the relay clicks when I plug it in. Ammeter drops and no humming from charger. I tried it last night and there was some major arc/sparking from the charger. It was coming from the top to the right center on the charger. I was into a rear brake job on my ford car so didn't get a chance to take the case off.

[JohnnieB]

Major arcs/sparks inside charger are not good, no matter what part they come from.

I'd check the diodes and fuse, and continuity of the three wires in the power cord while flexing cord near the strain reliefs at both ends.

[sprocket]

I took the cover off the charger, couldn't see anything burned. I actually have it charging now, works like it should except the ammeter gage is not working. There is one yellowish wire coming from the cart plug that has a screw and nut but not hooked to anything. There is a small piece of aluminum attached to the zero side of the ammeter but not hooked to anything. I wonder if that didn't short out? I have attached two picks for you to look at. I checked the main pack with my DVM and it is climbing. Started @ 41.3 , 41.4 , 41.5 etc up over 42 in only a couple of minutes before I came in.

[sprocket]

Also Johnnieb that red wire coming out of the cart plug going to the small black wire, the connection might have been a little bit loose. I pushed it together a little bit. Maybe that was trouble also? Thanks!

[littlebob]

I can't tell from the picture if it is present, but there should be a fuse on the left side of the Ammeter between it and the wire coming from the DC cord.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sprocket

I took the cover off the charger, couldn't see anything burned. I actually have it charging now, works like it should except the ammeter gage is not working. There is one yellowish wire coming from the cart plug that has a screw and nut but not hooked to anything. There is a small piece of aluminum attached to the zero side of the ammeter but not hooked to anything. I wonder if that didn't short out? I have attached two picks for you to look at. I checked the main pack with my DVM and it is climbing. Started @ 41.3 , 41.4 , 41.5 etc up over 42 in only a couple of minutes before I came in.

I'm not sure how the charger is charging the battery pack when the "yellowish wire coming from the cart plug" isn't hooked to anything.
That is the Positive side of the charger's output.

Like littlebob said, there ought to be a fuse connecting the white wire (yellowish in picture) to the ammeter stud on the left in the picture.
Maybe the bare wire sticking out from that stud is what is left of the fuse.

One scenario for why the pack voltage is climbing, but the ammeter isn't showing anything is that the bare end yellowish wire is touching the heatsink.

Please note that the rightside ammeter stud is electrically connected to the heatsink, but the left side isn't.
Therefore, to get the ammeter to work the yellowish wire has to be connected to the leftside stud.

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Since the was an arcing sound and the yellowish wire was hanging loose instead of being attached the the leftside ammeter stud via a fuse, I suspect you have some broken and bare wiring in the output cable and the positive and negative output from the charger shorted together and took out the 50A fuse.

[sprocket]

Hey Johnnieb, I left the charger on and checked early this morning and it was shut off. I DVM'd the pack and it was 39.2, so looks as though it charged. I actually unplugged from the cart and waited a second and plugged it back in and it appeared to be charging again. I know there isn't anything connected to that yellowish wire...and only whats left of a connector on the zero side of the ammeter. There should be a fuse there? What size of fuse? Mystery? Thanks.

[JohnnieB]

With the yellowish wire not being connected to, or touching, anything, I don't understand how the charger can possibly charge the battery pack, but I cannot dispute the fact it appears to have done so. I would love to have the that charger sitting on my workbench and find out exactly how it is doing that magic trick.

Attached is a schematic and here is the fuse: http://www.shopezgo.com/products/50A...Powerwise.html

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Personally, I do not trust that output cable and I'd take the plug off and carefully examine the wires for missing insulation.

Something caused the arc and we are dealing with arc welding type current levels, so a fire hazard exists. I'd make sure it was safe before I used it.