ezgo textron total charge low amps or not charging

[deaconman]

my total charge ezgo textron total charge charger is an old one (no model#) when I plug it in to 120 volts in the wall I get 39.87 DC volts on the sb 50 that would go in the cart receptacle. I have checked my fuse and the best I can tell the Diodes are good. My batteries are 70% charged. I unplug from the wall and plug into cart and then into 120 volt on wall. My ammeter is only showing 2 to 4 amps. this is after i have reset the timer and such. My transformer is making a slight humming noise and it appears I am getting around 40 VDC at the charger plug that should be plugged into the cart. It makes no different noise or hum or increase from 40vdc if it is plugged into cart or not. It does not hum loud at all like my second charger (lester) that I charge my cart with which hums loudly and amps read around 22. Just wanted to know if there are any things I can do to make sure if it is the board , Transformer or capacitor. I have checked the cap and as best I can tell it is good. I would like to get this fixed. there are 4 wires on the board a black 120 vac from wall and a yellow kind of right beside it on left top of board and on other side of board up top a black and a yellow. I am new to this site and forum so take it easy if I am missing something stupid. I am handy with a electrical meter, but was a little unsure of the proper way to check these large Diodes on the heatsink. kind of guessed since I had around 40VDC out put with out being plugged into cart those were good. and does anyone know what size capacitor size mfd that is all I could see was 370 volts AC the rest was written in what appeared to be disappearing ink. thank you for your help in advance.

[Taykol]

This video helped me a great deal. By careful with using the screwdriver to connect the two wires to the relay...

How to repair an EZ-GO Powerwise Golf Cart Charger - YouTube

How to repair an EZ-GO Powerwise Golf Cart Charger - YouTube

[JohnnieB]

Welcome to BGW!

Is this the charger you've got?
If not, please post picture of faceplate.

Regardless, 40VDC out is too low for a 36V charger, 2-4A is also too low for the initial charge rate and if it has a control board in it, it should come on unless it is plugged into the cart, so it sounds there is more than one problem.

The low voltage and amps is probably a bad diode or diodes.
Remove the wire from the transformer to each diode and the measure the diodes with and Ohmmeter. If you have a DMM, use the Conductivity function.
Diodes should conduct in one direction, but not in the other.
1N1184 will work, replace both if either is bad or questionable.

While you've got the Diodes disconnected, it would be a good time to check the transformer and capacitor. Here's how to do it:
(Note: A "Motor Run Capacitor" from you local electric supply will work, but the MFD is critical and depends on which charger you have.)

--------------
I suspect the relay on the control board has been bypassed because the charger should come on (Hum) until the control board senses the cart's battery voltage.
If the relay is bypassed, the control board is most likely bad. (otherwise, why bypass the relay?)

[JohnnieB]

I took a quick look at the video.

I stopped watching when the guy measured the diodes in circuit and only measure in one direction, then pronounced them good.
Either one or the other diode, or both, could have been open.
You have to measure continuity in both directions (Polarities) to determine if they are good or bad.

This is not the service manual for your Total Charge charger, but the testing procedures described are far safer and work the same even though the parts and physical layouts are different.

[deaconman]

the pic of the total charge textron looks exactly like mine as far as i can tell. how does that relay get jumped out. for appearance sake it seems that all the 4 wires (the black hot and the yellow beside it on the left hand top are connected where they should be. It also appears that the small red maybe to the heatsink and small black that I believe goes to the ammeter is correct also., probably more that I figure out at this moment. I will stop by Radio shack tomorrow and pick up a couple of Diodes as there is one kind of close to me. little more background is I have not really tried it more than a couple of minutes of charging yet. I thought that maybe the 40VDC would go up a few volts after running a few minutes. Is that capacitor possibly a problem looking around it looks it might be a 370 volt 20mfd, if not let me know cause i have access to capacitors. kind of through me a loop cause the previous chargers I have had made a loud humming sound almost all the time. this one was no where near as loud. unfortunately got called into work. post again tomorrow. thank you so much for all of your reply back to me. I am glad I have found this forum as I have several carts. By the way with my good charger my charged voltage 12 hours later is38.4 vdc. all my batteries are right at 6.4vdc each.

[yurtle]

Be very careful when probing around the inside of a charger. The capacitor can hold a significant charge, even when the charger isn't plugged in. Some of the tests for a charger involve testing while the charger is plugged in, so in addition to not touching anything yourself, make sure as you unplug things, you don't allow the wires/plugs to touch anything else.

[JohnnieB]

I might have misread what you said in your first post.

If the charger turns on (Hums) when it is plugged into AC power without being plugged into cart also, either the control board is bad or the relay contacts are welded closed, or the relay has been by-passed.

If the charger doesn't come on until the charger output cable is plugged into cart, it is working normally.

--------------

I was also under the impression the 40V reading was when the charger output cable was unplugged from cart.
If so, that is a low voltage.
If not, it is normal, and is the on-charge voltage of the battery pack.

--------------

During normal operation, the ammeter will jump up to the 15A to 20A range initially.
Then, after a few minutes (15 minutes, half hour, maybe an our - depends on battery pack's state of charge) it amps will decrease to the 8A to 10A range.
As time passes, the amps will tapper off to the 2A to 4A range and stay there until the charger automatically shuts off.

If the amps aren't 15A or more initially, you might have a diode problem, or output of the transformer isn't being boosted to a high enough voltage, which could be caused by a bad capacitor or a bad transformer.

--------------

Here is a parts breakdown and wiring diagram for a Green Face Total Charge.
I've probably got a schematic for it, or something close, in my stash, if you need it.

---------------
EZGO sell a 20MFD 370VAC cap for a replacement, but a high voltage rating will also work. 20.5MFD also works.

-------------

Bypassing the relay. There are two wires attached to a black cube in upper left corner of control board. Connecting those two wires together bypasses the relay contacts.

[simple man]

I have two of the " green face " chargers and they are both quieter than the Lestronic II charger that I have. I'm not saying there is nothing wrong, but you really can't compare the sound to determine a problem ( unless there is no sound, of course! )

[deaconman]

I would like to thank everyone that has took their time to reply back. I took my stud silicon diode rectifiers off of the heat sink plate and attached my fluke multimeter with the alligator clips installed to the wires that were connected to the diodes and got 65.1 VAC with the capacitor removed. after I reinstalled the capacitor got 85.7 VAC. It does appear that one of my stud silicon diode rectifiers is reading both ways 0.00 ohms no matter how I switch my leads the other only would ohm one way. I know to replace them both and yes my control board must be bad because it attempts to start charging with out being plugged into the golf cart, I did not have to even jump out the control board to test. My local Radio shack did not have the stud silicon diode rectifiers, ordered a couple from Newark (a lot cheaper through the mail order than anything local even with shipping) 1n1184. Will order a control board for this early generation of the EZGO textron total charge. If I have missed something I might need to know ordering or my control board I would appreciate it. Thanks Johnnie B for the schematics and drawings made a world of difference. Once again thanks alot gentlemen.