Charging trouble

[Weatherl]

I am newby. Just bought a 1990 ez go marathon electric. It came with a 36 volt charger and I wasn't sure if it worked so I hadi checked and it is good but when I plug it into the cart nothing happens the meter does not register any thing. The batteries show a little charge but I can't get any thing to operate , horn lights or the motor. This is my first experience with an electric cart any help will be greatly appreciate .

[manwitaplan]

I don't know very much. But according to the main folks here, if your batteries are dead the charger can not get them going. Did you check each battery with a meter to see what they read? You need to do that first.

No offense but the search button and 400 hours of reading are your friend.

Search checking batteries.


Good luck.

[sprocket]

I only got into electric carts two months ago. Had gas for 16 years, thought there couldn't be "much" to owning electric! Man was I wrong ! Anyway I have read every possible thing on BGN about batteries and chargers. I just repaired my charger 3 nights ago after some problems. I read and read and read and then took pic's and asked questions. Sure enough some of the guys chimed in and got me through it. This site is aewsome, just be patient!

[sprocket]

O.K. , I am by no means an expert and some one else will get in on this, but I think your battery pack has to have a minimum voltage before the charger will work. I have read where you can "jump" the relay to get it to work but it won't know when to shut off as the board is not in play. If the battery pack is low you probably would be safe to leave it on for a couple of hours or so then check it again. A digital volt meter is a must to know what's going on.

[JohnnieB]

You'll need a DMM (Digital Multi-Meter) to work on the cart. An inexpensive one in a blister pack from an auto parts or big-box store will suffice.

What is the battery pack voltage? (A fully charged 36V battery pack read 38.2V)
What are the individual battery voltages? (A fully charged 6V battery reads 6.37V)
What is the make & model of your charger? (A picture of the faceplate will work if the label is missing.)

If the battery pack voltage is less than about 30V, an automatic type charger won't turn on.
If that is the case, you can use a 12V car battery charger and charge the 6V batteries in pairs to get them up to about 6.0V or more and then the 36V charger should come on.

Of course, if the batteries have sat in a discharged state for an extended period of time, they are probably beyond redemption.

Let us know about the battery voltages and what charger you have and we'll proceed from there.

[Weatherl]

I have descovered that the batteries are 7 0r 8 years old and have not been taken care of so off the store to buy new ones. I hope that solves the problem, if not I will return . thanks for the help

[JohnnieB]

Buy the highest Amp Hour rated Deep cycle GOLF CART batteries you can afford. (225AH is standard, less is economy. more is premium)

Charge them fully before the first use. Even if the vendor says the are fully charged, put them on charge.
The initial charge will take a long time. 10-12 hours, maybe even longer.

Then you have to break them in properly to get max storage capacity.
Here is how: http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Batter...n_Methods.html
While on website, read everything with word "Battery" in title. Lots of good info.

[Weatherl]

New batteries and every thing work great . Great info from you guys .. One other question what is the button on the brake peddle for. Thanks

[JohnnieB]

Brake lights.