Powerwise II still having problems.

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by Andy4639

I realize you were joking but the statement is true. Just about every person I have ever talked to about batteries that wasn't into them like us could care less about anything but how much they are.
Yea who would have ever guess a simple post would have gotten that much
attention! I don't know about being proud but it's a good read.

The post is not without merit. We've learned a source of batteries and cost, we've learned that not everyone is a fan of that supplier, we've learned that some batteries are made in the US and some are not, and we've learned the secret meaning of the warning labels.

[Andy4639]

You are correct sir. It does have it's merit!

[paramedtim]

Batteries were charged to 46.8 volts this morning and it was still sitting at 3 amps. I opened one of the battery caps and the acid was bubbling some. I guess the batteries are still in the gassing stage. I'm not gonna take any chances I'm gonna order a new relay on Monday. 31 dollars is cheap peace of mind.

[kirkroediger]

Its not your relay, its your control board, kirk

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by paramedtim

................I'm not gonna take any chances I'm gonna order a new relay on Monday................

Tim, from what's been posted, I'm not 100% sure it is the Relay.

Please make one, or two, more test before ordering the relay.

Without attaching charger to cart, plug it into AC power.
If it comes on (Transformer hums and/or there is DC voltage on the pins in the output plug), the relay's NO contacts are welded close. Order a new Relay.
If it doesn't come on, the relay is OK.

If it doesn't come on, plug charger's plug into cart's receptacle.
If it comes on instantly, the control module is bad.

Here's a schematic for a Lestronic II / PowerWise II charger.
As you see the control module gets B+ directly from the diode assembly and B- via the third wire in the output cable.
Unless the control board has both B+ and B-, it cannot activate the relay to connect AC power to transformer, so if the charger comes on when no battery is connected, the relay is bad, or bypassed.

On the other hand, if there isn't a 3-5 second delay (approximately) between the time the charger plug is attached to the cart's battery pack and the relay activating, either the relay driver on the control board is shorted or something further down the food chain is defective.

[paramedtim]

This morning when I got home I plugged the charger into the AC outlet and with the charging plug removed from the cart and it immediately started humming. I checked the power at the DC plug without it being plugged into the cart and it was showing 49.5 volts. So I guess according to your information the relay is bad.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by paramedtim

This morning when I got home I plugged the charger into the AC outlet and with the charging plug removed from the cart and it immediately started humming. I checked the power at the DC plug without it being plugged into the cart and it was showing 49.5 volts. So I guess according to your information the relay is bad.

Yes. The relay either has shorted Normally Open contacts, or they have been by-passed.

I know you said you watched the dealer replace the capacitor and he didn't jumper the relay, but I included that possibility since others may read this thread at a future date and I want to include all possibilities.

[paramedtim]

Cool JohnnieB. I'll order a relay and let you now how it works out.
Thanks for the help.

[paramedtim]

I called the EZGO guy in Lubbock today to see if he had the relay. He asked me how I knew it was bad and I explained to him what it was doing and was getting advice from you guys. He went off the wall. He said "why in the hell would you get help off the internet when I have over 20 years of experience working on these". "In 20 years I have never seen just the relay fail, it's always the whole control board". Dang he was pissed off. I told him I'm the kind of person that likes to work on my own stuff. He said he would take a relay off the control board and sell it to me. And order a relay to replace that one and then when I came back for the control board he would sell me one with the relay on it. He said the control board with the relay was $160 and some change with tax. Cheaper than what EZGO has it for. I guess maybe I need to replace the whole thing and get it over with. I just don't like being treated like crap because I try to fix my own stuff.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by paramedtim

I called the EZGO guy in Lubbock today to see if he had the relay. He asked me how I knew it was bad and I explained to him what it was doing and was getting advice from you guys. He went off the wall. He said "why in the hell would you get help off the internet when I have over 20 years of experience working on these". "In 20 years I have never seen just the relay fail, it's always the whole control board". Dang he was pissed off. I told him I'm the kind of person that likes to work on my own stuff. He said he would take a relay off the control board and sell it to me. And order a relay to replace that one and then when I came back for the control board he would sell me one with the relay on it. He said the control board with the relay was $160 and some change with tax. Cheaper than what EZGO has it for. I guess maybe I need to replace the whole thing and get it over with. I just don't like being treated like crap because I try to fix my own stuff.

Since, according to the dealer in Lubbock, they never fail by themselves, it seems odd that E-Z-GO sell them separately.
http://www.shopezgo.com/products/Rel...roduct_id=1554

Is this the same dealer that didn't notice it was turning on instantly after he replaced the capacitor?


Of course, I might be wrong, but in my 50 year working on electronic and electrical devices, I have just never seen the normally open contacts of a good relay be closed without power being applied to the coil and with the charger not connected to the cart's battery, there is no power to initially energize the relay. On the other hand, I have seen hundreds of relays with stuck (welded close) contacts.