Charging/Speed Problems

[Newt21]

I have a 2013 Precedent, it has 3 brand new batteries and 3 that were purchased about 9 months ago (ball park, I didn't own the cart then). When driving the cart, it charged until the charger cut off, but when driving it lasted about 30 minutes before the batteries got into the red. We were able to do this a handful of times before we were unable to charge the cart, no drive lasted longer than 30 minutes and one of the occasions the cart slowed to a walking speed about 20 minutes in.

My issue is that it is no longer charging at all. The charger clicks on when it's plugged in, it starts off at full power but drops down to 5 amps relatively quickly and stays at that level. I can hear the batteries "bubbling" while it is plugged in, but it never charges them.

I've installed a new OBC already because it sounded like that was the issue (from what I'd read here and other places that's what it sounded like), but it is still having the same issue.

The DC wire was a little frayed where it connected into the powerdrive box, so I ordered and replaced the DC wire, thinking that may be the issue, but it didn't solve the problem. The fuse inside was still clear and connected (wasn't burned out that I could tell).

I'm not really sure where to go from here in regards to trying to figure out and fix the problem. I don't know what tools I need and don't have the know how to proceed beyond this point. I'm not very savvy when it comes to electrical things and I don't have many tools at my disposal, so please let me know what tools are needed when you suggest solutions. Thanks in advance!

[Fairtax4me]

That's a battery problem.
What brand (s) of batteries are in it now?
Model number would be helpful as well.
It's difficult to replace only a few batteries at a time. Unless you KNOW FOR SURE that they are in VERY good condition. 6 months is plenty of time to completely ruin a battery through mistreatment or poor maintenance/charging habits.
Lead Acid batteries do not react well to being driven until they are totally dead, and they also do not tolerate being stored in a discharged state. When new batteries are mixed with old, the new batteries are almost always chronically under-charged, which leads to sulfate build-up on the plates and will quickly damage the battery.

More than likely getting 3 new matching batteries to the ones you just bought will fix the problem.

Check each battery with a voltmeter. Each one should be at about 8.49V. You should have an overall pack voltage of about 50.9V with the batteries at rest, at least 12 hours after charging.

[rick62]

Is the water level in battery's full ? and the cables clean ?

[Newt21]

Water levels are all good, that was the first thing I checked when I got the cart. The 3 new batteries are auto craft golf cart batteries and the 3 others are us batteries. I will get a volt meter today to check the batteries individually and the system as a whole. It won’t be until later but will post the results when I get them.

[Fairtax4me]

Write down the Model numbers on those batteries and let us know which ones they are.
There should also be an AH rating on the label. If the AH rating does not match then you will always have unequal charging of the pack and will lead to shorter pack life and shorter drive times. AH rating is the batteries capacity and all 6 have to match. This is partly why it's generally not good to mix new and old batteries, and/or batteries of different brands.

[Newt21]

Autocraft GC8
US Battery US 8VGCE XC2

[Newt21]

48 for system
8/5/7/8/8/8 volts, the voltmeter didn’t go more specific than that.

[NoleFan4Ever]

You are double posting and that can be confusing. I just read this and thought I was having De'javue....

This is also in the Charging troubleshooting thread....

[Newt21]

Originally Posted by NoleFan4Ever

You are double posting and that can be confusing. I just read this and thought I was having De'javue....

This is also in the Charging troubleshooting thread....

My apologies, I didn’t know if anyone checked the stickies so I posted here and I thought it would be rude not to answer people trying to help (it was different people than other thread)

[NoleFan4Ever]

Just saying it gets confusing so try to make one post and allow the forum to help you. We are not all on at the same time, but generally you will see something within a day or so of posting based on timing and degree of difficulty.

And the other reason is we all posses our own skills, and if we see a sold member working on your problem we try not to jump in and confuse the problem unless we see where more help is needed. It is just sa courtesy we try to show each other to allow them to complete their train of thought to your needed remedy.