2001 Regen / Powerdrive charger issues

[afonda123]

Charger quit charging a few days ago. No hum.. no nothing... So, I did some reading on here and jumped the relay. The charger is now "humming" when plugged into the power outlet. Initially (after I jumped the relay) when I plugged it into the cart, it began charging and the voltmeter on the charger read about 15 to 16 volts for a few minutes but then the voltmeter went to zero and won't come up at all. I tried unplugging and plugging in several times but no luck. The powerdrive is still "humming" when plugged into the power outlet (120v) and the voltmeter is at zero.

The battery pack is reading about 44 volts. ( I found that one of the center batteries was down to about 3.3 volts (needed water).

Thanks,
Andy

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...eshooting.html

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...e-charger.html

[Golf cart guy]

If you only had one battery that was at 3 volts, that battery is junk. It could also cause the charger to hum but not charge the batteries. Check that battery while its plugged in and take a reading

[afonda123]

Ok.. will do...
How do you test the relay to see if it's working?

[teecro]

Originally Posted by afonda123

The battery pack is reading about 44 volts. ( I found that one of the center batteries was down to about 3.3 volts (needed water).

Assuming here that you have 6 8-volt batteries with that 44 volt reading that battery reading of 3.3 volts tells that the rest of your pack is down to at best 8.14 volts. This is discharged to the point of causing damage and that battery at 3.3 volts, well it is damaged and water is not going to save it. Your OBC may simply be telling you that it can't charge your pack, many OBC will not allow charging at voltage of 42 volts.

[afonda123]

Maybe the bad one is dragging the others down...
The bad one is in the center... I have found that those 2 in the center are more common or having issues.

[afonda123]

update...

Got a new battery.. the pack is now back up to about 52V.

Charger: Got a new relay for inside the charger. Installed the relay, attached the red, blue, and black wires. I next plugged into the cart and heard the classic click down inside the charger... I thought "sweet" it's fixed... So, I then plugged in the power to the wall outlet and nothing... not charging. So, now I cannot get the relay to reproduce the classic "click" when plugging into the golf cart.

If I "jump" the relay it will charge the battery pack. (but of course you have to monitor and not charge for too long...)

WTF??

Is something else broken? I have checked all the fuses and they look good. What else can I check?

[afonda123]

found the problem... "Little Gray Wire" on back side of the charger port on the cart. The gray wire had come disconnected but was still hanging out the back of the plug and appeared as if it was still connected. Pulled on it and it came right out.

Fix: remove the plug from the cart and remove the 3 screws on the back of the plug.. attach a new wire to the terminal where the gray one was. (don't try to remove the nut on the back of the terminal because it won't come off, trust me!!) I used some 14/16 ga wire and stripped it about an inch and 1/2, wrapped it around the terminal and I used a solder iron to make sure it stayed on good-n-tight... Charging like new !!