36V Lithium Charger Smokes. Somethings not right!

[DouggieFressh]

Would love some advice. Just want confirmation on whether I'm the idiot or if this charger is faulty.

Setup:
3x12v 100ah dakota lithium batteries wired in a series.
Renology battery meter.
Dakota Lithium 36v 8amp charger.

Positive Terminal - three cables

1. Main power cable to the golf cart
2. charger positive cable
3. combination cable of 12v reducer and positive to the battery meter.

Negative Terminal - three cables

1. Main negative to the golf cart
2. charger negative cable
3. combination cable of 12v reducer and negative to the fuse panel

The first sign of an issue was when I was wiring everything together. I had the Anderson connectors together and attached to the charger. No power to the charger. I connected the positive terminal to the charger - no issue. When I went to connect the negative cable to the negative terminal it shorted (heavy sparks flying). A little smoke came from the charger. Knew something wasn't right.

Tried a second way. Disconnected Anderson plugs. Connected the charger to the battery. Tried to connect the Anderson plugs. This time a pop and smoke from the charger. Disconnected the Anderson plug and am not touching it again....

Did I wire something wrong to cause this? Or is this just a defective charger??

Otherwise, everything works great. I balanced the batteries before installing them and with the charger removed from the loop everything (accessories, headlights, and golf cart) works perfectly and the cart performs like a dream.

Appreciate the help!!!

See picture below for setup.

[bronsonj]

Sounds like a bad charger to me. And if it wasn't a bad charger before it's a bad charger now that the magic smoke's been let out...

You can verify your sanity by checking the polarity of the cables going to the charger. If the positive and negative are crossed that could make the charger smoke.

[DouggieFressh]

I ended up reaching out to Dakota's tech support. They agree that the charger is bad. I had a new one on the way from them.

[WalterM6]

I see another thing that needs correcting. These two wires which are now connected to the battery- should be connected to the other side of the shunt resistor. Wires are labeled,2. charger negative cable and 3. combination cable of 12v reducer and negative to the fuse panel. Without them connected to the other side of the shunt the charge meter won't be able to measure charge or accessory current and the meter will be useless. I'll try and attach a picture with the correct connection point circled.

[DouggieFressh]

Great point. I will definitely do that.

[DouggieFressh]

So a new charger came in and the same thing happened....

I knew the problem wasn't the battery array since the golf cart works fine. This time after really inspecting the charger and cables I found the craziest thing that the Anderson connector was wired wrong!! I was originally unable to see it since the black wrap was covering the color of the cables... Unbelievable!

[bronsonj]

holy cow! I'm glad you figured it out. I would not have imagined the charger coming with the anderson wired backwards!!! Did they give you another one on their dime for that issue?

[DouggieFressh]

Originally Posted by bronsonj

holy cow! I'm glad you figured it out. I would not have imagined the charger coming with the anderson wired backwards!!! Did they give you another one on their dime for that issue?

I know right!! They did. Sent me a third charger for free.