Powerwise for EZGO.... I am lost.

[Johnny Defacto]

Hi guys, long time lurker, first time poster. I have learned so much from reading the threads here, have had all my questions answered from previous discussions, but this time I am stumped.

I just picked up a 2002 EZGO TXT PDS 36v, 23" all terrains, 14" wheels, 4 seater, freedom plug, Trojan T-125's (brand new), stock motor/controller, stereo, lights.

I have a Powerwise charger (28115 G01) that came with the cart.

When I plug in the charger, it clicks, hums, and ammeter goes to 8amps and stays there. Fully charged battery pack (using a neighbors power wise charger that works perfectly) drove cart around all day, drained pack to about %50. Put my charger on it, clicks, hums, pegs at 8amps, get 39.5v to the pack.

When I plug in my buddies same model charger, it goes to 20 amps and then starts dropping down (I checked the voltage during the charge immediately after plugging it in, getting 39.5v same as my bad charger)

This is what I have done over the last few days after reading all the threads on here and following the trouble shooting guides you guys have available:

1. Opened charger, made sure all connections are tight and appear normal.
2. Relay is good, tested it even though it clicks on as normal. Bypassed relay and had same symptom(have not let it run for 16 hours to see if timer kicks it off or if I can get a full charge out of it, once I saw 8amps I new something was wrong so I didn't want to damage anything).
3. Tested both diodes... both test good, 0.450-ish one way and 0 the opposite on both.
4. Tested capacitor, tests perfectly, connections are very tight, appears to be the correct capacitor.
5. Tested the transformer, works perfect, got 90.1 volts output.


2 thoughts, the output to the battery pack when hooked up matches the output of my neighbors charger, so could my ammeter needle just be "stuck" at 8 amps? Could the ammeter just be bad? And how, if possible, can I test this without switching out ammeters with my friends charger?

The other is could the capacitor be the incorrect one? I read in the lester charger manual that if the incorrect capacitor was put on the charger output could be a lot less than desirable:

"To accurately measure the actual capacitance of a capacitor requires a meter closer to instrument quality as shown in Figure 10B. The practical need for this investment will be rewarded when you find that someone has replaced the 4 micro-farad capacitor required with a generic, unmarked 3 micro-farad capacitor that is identical to the one required. Could this be why the charger outputs 5 amperes instead of 20? Access to a quality test instrument may be your only option."

Thank you guys in advance. I am open to any suggestions or re-tests.

[cgtech]

Sounds like symptoms of a bad diode (which you tested), or a failing or incorrect capacitor. You would need some test equipment to isolate a bad ammeter (or a known good meter).

[Johnny Defacto]

okay, so after checking everything I decided that I would draw my battery pack back down to approx 50% and put my bad charger on it. It went to 8 amps, so I decided I was going to watch it for the next 16 hours to see if I get a full charge and see if it shuts off on its own.

I went out 2 hours after plugging it in and the meter was reading 25amps, so i tapped the screen and it dropped down to 12... so I guess the ammeter is just flat out broken. I am going to order a new one and install it. Oh and testing the pack as it is charging I am getting 44volts after about 3 hours on charger. Not sure if this is correct but I think that was what the good charger was doing as well.

anyone point me to a good OEM or aftermarket ammeter that will work with my charger?

thank you.

[bigstik40]

I think the part number for your ammeter is 28105-G01 and price is between $15 and $20 + shipping. I suggest you try one of our site sponsors if you don't have a local dealer. Good luck - RAY

[radioman]

I suspect the amp meter pointer indication is not correct but the current going through the meter assembly is ok. Sometimes a small foreign object gets in the movement. Good troubleshooting!

[Johnny Defacto]

Originally Posted by bigstik40

I think the part number for your ammeter is 28105-G01 and price is between $15 and $20 + shipping. I suggest you try one of our site sponsors if you don't have a local dealer. Good luck - RAY

Thanks Ray, I will check the site sponsor for that part.