Troubleshooting 1997 DS

[jimg]

My 97 DS series 48v cart was working great when I parked it a few weeks ago. It's been indoors and is fully charged.

I'm sure this discussion has been held before, but I couldn't find it...

It went about 200 yards, then it stopped. Pushing the accelerator in either forward or reverse yielded a small repeating surge. By the time I pushed the thing back to the garage, the charge light had come on, although I did try to get it running as I was coasting the last few feet. After cycling the key, the charge light went out.

Now, after checking the battery voltages, there's no longer a repeating surge, but only a very short motion upon initially pushing the accelerator.

I'm an EE with all the needed tools from volt/current meters to oscillocsope, so I'd appreciate someone giving me a basic explanation of operation. I've downloaded the schematic in the sticky area, but the details are sparse.

Is the motor driven with a PWM signal or linear? Is there a schematic for the forward/reverse switch? Or a description of the motor terminals? There are some switches in the upper right of the schematic (might be "limit switches"?) - where/what are they for? What exactly does the OBC do?

[GLEEMO]

Sounds like a Voltage problem.
Can U measure each battery and then across the entire pack and post the results here.

Go to http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/electric-club-car/ and choose one of the stickies for your wiring diagram

[jimg]

All six batteries are between 9.18 and 9.22 and the whole bank reads 55.2v.
I had just disconnected the charger before measuring.

[sonicj]

Originally Posted by jimg

I'm an EE with all the needed tools from volt/current meters to oscillocsope, so I'd appreciate someone giving me a basic explanation of operation. I've downloaded the schematic in the sticky area, but the details are sparse.

Is the motor driven with a PWM signal or linear? Is there a schematic for the forward/reverse switch? Or a description of the motor terminals? There are some switches in the upper right of the schematic (might be "limit switches"?) - where/what are they for? What exactly does the OBC do?

-pwm
-switch is mechanical forward & reverse
-motor is series wound s1 & s2 = series fields (2 poles), a1 & a2 = armature brushes
-which schematic? lockouts & reverse buzzer???
-obc monitors current consumption and regulates charging. it also has a lockout function which disables the cart during charge

attached is a manual for the curtis 1204/1205 controller series. it should shed some light on theory of operation.

*note* - there are various configurations depicted in the manual that do not apply to your cart.
cheers,
-sj

[sonicj]

im sure this could go w/o saying, but just as friendly reminder... theres no current limit on these power supplies! remove any rings, watches, etc. use insulated tools if available.
-sj

[jimg]

I'm embarrassed to say that when I went out tackle the problem this morning, the silly thing worked just fine. I'm guessing the batteries had self-discharged enough while I was out of town to trip the OBC, and after charging for awhile, I tried it too quickly after unplugging the charger, and it tripped it because it thought it was still charging (55v). This morning, after the charger had turned itself off overnight, the battery bank measured 50.2 volts which must be happy-land?

My batteries are 2005 vintage, so maybe I need to start shopping. We had a deep snow, so the cart was parked without the charger plugged in for about three weeks.

[GLEEMO]

Always leave the charger plugged in , if its a auto-shutoff and U have OBC cart .
Even if U only drive it 15 minutes , plug it up.
The OBC also has a timer which tells the charger to come on every XX days and test the batteries , charge as needed !!!!

[sonicj]

Originally Posted by jimg

I'm embarrassed to say that when I went out tackle the problem this morning, the silly thing worked just fine. I'm guessing the batteries had self-discharged enough while I was out of town to trip the OBC, and after charging for awhile, I tried it too quickly after unplugging the charger, and it tripped it because it thought it was still charging (55v). This morning, after the charger had turned itself off overnight, the battery bank measured 50.2 volts which must be happy-land?

My batteries are 2005 vintage, so maybe I need to start shopping. We had a deep snow, so the cart was parked without the charger plugged in for about three weeks.

50.2 is roughly 85% of full charge. cold can attribute to this or like you mentioned, your batteries could be on their way out. keeping them charged and watered is key for longest service life.
-sj

[jimg]

I was bothered by the computer turning the thing off at as high a voltage as 48v. It failed again, and I discovered that I had a slightly bad battery cable connection. All my batteries were showing 8.2 volts or more, so I thought I ought to have 49.2+ volts, which I did (when not under load). Lost three volts through a corroded lug under load, though. I guess this isn't rocket science :)