lots of questions, and all opinions welcomed

[SpoiledRotten]

Originally Posted by EZGOmywallet

I hear ya thats why I am stuck. I guess I need to chalk it up to lesson learned on buying elec cart lol

Don't think you won't be able to buy a gas cart with no problems. That's what I'm reading into your posts. That electric carts have problems but gassers don't.

[SpoiledRotten]

Originally Posted by pggroves

I'm invisible.

Have you seen a doctor about that?

[pggroves]

No data on batteries, i.e. SG, voltages, then who knows???

Do as already advised and start with the simple and inexpensive stuff first.

SR, I don't want to fix the invisibility problem. Think about it for a second. It can come in quite handy at times.

[EZGOmywallet]

thanks guys, and for some reason I never thought to shorten the cables...duh ! I will try that too for now. Also, I did check the specific gravity with a cheap hydrometer I bought and at 60% they read (only checked one cell per battery) a consistent 1.150 range and after charge when showing 100% they only go up to the 1.220 range which made me think that is why the hydro test must be so much more accurate then with a volt meter and made me feel like it is a battery issue.

I did change the battery in my volt meter after reading some threads as well. A volt test 5hrs after 100% charge show the pack at 38.4 and batteries at 6.39, 6.42, 6.42, 6.44, 6.45 ,6.39 I did notice a few of them seem to be high, is that normal ?

Another side note, what are symptoms of over charged batteries ? I have actually had the charger on for almost 12hrs once waiting to see if it would turn off and it didn't. I was scared to go to bed with it still on after that point. The charger acts right (as far as the amp meter goes) but I have yet to know if it will shut off by itself.

What is the easiest way for a load test ?
I have been unable to mess with it in a few days, but I can today.

[scottyb]

Those SG readings indicate very little activity in the batteries. The charger is telling you they are NG too .... You can simply tape the volt meter to the pack and drive up the biggest hill you can find. Check the meter while going up hill? What do you read standing still at the bottom and.... What does it drop to driving up hill? I think that is all you will need to load test these sick puppies hope this helps


PS:
There is a link in my signature to the battery voltage and SG tables

[EZGOmywallet]

thanks man. I printed those tables off last week and is the only way I got to where I am now...big help, thanks. Now as far as the hill goes, how long will it take you from Cali to get to S.C. to help me push it back home ?

[scottyb]

If I was closer you would have new batteries already You prolly won't have to go to far to find out where you are at ..... a drop of more than a few volts is abnormal indicating NG batteries.

[EZGOmywallet]

well I guess the batts are toast. I started off with 39.2v, drove 150ft and it dropped to 35.6v while driving. When I came to a stop it went to 37.2v. The numbers stayed about the same and it struggled turning around in the road just from the crown in the middle of road. After about another 200ft of stop and go (half and full throttle didn't really change the numbers) I figured I better get it back into the driveway as it was slowing noticeably.

I have a very slightly sloped driveway and when going back up the driveway it dropped to 36.0v with a slight shutter. when parked in the garage it showed 36.8

time to break out some cash huh ?

[EZGOmywallet]

OK, well I have decided to go 4ga wires and batteries. I went out to look it over to determine how much cable and how many lugs ect I need and found something else. I am sorry I have no manual (yet) so lack of knowledge of knowing correct names of parts or what they do so I need some more help. The round solenoid looking part mounted in front of the controller has some rust on the top. After wondering if I should clean or replace the resistor/diode when I replace the cables I then noticed another bigger resistor/diode as well and saw it was burned or broken. What is it and what does it do ? I will post a pic

Next question and pic. Behind the F/R switch at the bottom of the bracket the small round black plastic piece, there is a red wire and a black wire (very small gauge) coming out of the bottom of it. Both are cut off about a inch after they come out. I didn't know if they were supposed to be, or if someone has bypassed something. I also have a few wires bundled up with ends on them not connected to anything between the batteries. The head lights and tail lights do not work, or are unhooked and I just figured thats what the wires are for. I was going to worry about lights later after I am up and going. I guess now I wonder if someone has been monkeying around with it.

I know I need a manual, and plan to get one, but as of right now I would rather put that $100 towards new batteries. Thanks for any help, and I promise I will leave you alone for a while once I get up and going lol.

[gornoman]

Originally Posted by EZGOmywallet

OK, well I have decided to go 4ga wires and batteries. I went out to look it over to determine how much cable and how many lugs ect I need and found something else. I am sorry I have no manual (yet) so lack of knowledge of knowing correct names of parts or what they do so I need some more help. The round solenoid looking part mounted in front of the controller has some rust on the top. After wondering if I should clean or replace the resistor/diode when I replace the cables I then noticed another bigger resistor/diode as well and saw it was burned or broken. What is it and what does it do ? I will post a pic

Next question and pic. Behind the F/R switch at the bottom of the bracket the small round black plastic piece, there is a red wire and a black wire (very small gauge) coming out of the bottom of it. Both are cut off about a inch after they come out. I didn't know if they were supposed to be, or if someone has bypassed something. I also have a few wires bundled up with ends on them not connected to anything between the batteries. The head lights and tail lights do not work, or are unhooked and I just figured thats what the wires are for. I was going to worry about lights later after I am up and going. I guess now I wonder if someone has been monkeying around with it.

I know I need a manual, and plan to get one, but as of right now I would rather put that $100 towards new batteries. Thanks for any help, and I promise I will leave you alone for a while once I get up and going lol.

Pic 1 is the solenoid. It can be cleaned up. Small terminals have a diode between them to prevent voltage spikes from the solenoid field returning to the controller. Polarity is important here, so reassemble as it was before. The large posts have a pre-charge resistor across them. This allows some "stay awake voltage" to the controller. No polarity issues here.

Pic 2, the black disc is the Reverse Alarm, and the 2 wires should feed to the F/R micros. You need a schematic to determine correct placement and you should be able to locate the correct one in the sticky area at the top of this section of the forum.

Stray wires, well, you gotta track those down yourself. Every wire goes somewhere! Special note: No Chassis Grounding on sparky carts! If you rewire your lights you must ground to the battery pack at a 12v negative reference.