Only 36.4 volts on each charge?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by azTony

Sorry JonnieB, I do not see a pic attached

They must have fallen into the bit bucket, I'll try again

[azTony]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

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

If the on-charge voltage is only 36.4V as measured on the Red and Black wires on the chargers control board (See attached schematic), there is a problem with the charger's battery charging circuit.

If the on-charge voltage as measured on the Red and Black wires on the chargers control board is reaching about 45V before charger shuts off, the problem is in the battery voltage sense circuit.

If the cart is running fairly normally (and none of the interconnecting cables on the battery pack are getting hot) the problem is excessive resistance between the wires highlighted in blue and red on schematic and the wires from the cart's charge receptacle attaches to the main + & - terminals on the battery pack.

So the "charger's battery charging circuit" and the "batter voltage sense circuit" are both on the control board, isn't that correct?

How do I charge 2 batteries at a time? Do I have to disconnect cables to isolate the two batteries being charged? I am getting tired of messing with this charger since it has had the board changed already!

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by azTony

So the "charger's battery charging circuit" and the "batter voltage sense circuit" are both on the control board, isn't that correct?


How do I charge 2 batteries at a time? Do I have to disconnect cables to isolate the two batteries being charged? I am getting tired of messing with this charger since it has had the board changed already!

No. The battery charging circuit is the ferroresonant transformer, capacitor and diodes. It will charge the battery with or without a control board.

Early chargers used a timer to turn the charger off rather than a control board and I suspect some of the earliest ones didn't even have a timer.


ALL the control board does is turns the battery charging circuit on and off.

To do this, it senses the cart's battery pack voltage.
It has to sense a voltage above about 30V to turn the stand alone battery charging circuit on.
When an on-charge voltage of about 45V is sensed, it will turn the stand alone battery charging circuit off.

If that is not happening, the battery pack voltage isn't being sensed accurately or the control; board is bad.

--------------
The batteries do not have to be disconnected to charge a pair of them with a 12V charger

[azTony]

So after 5. hours last night I managed to get 2 batteries up to 6.3 volts and the other 2 batteries were not quite done but when bed time came around I had to turn the charger off since it does not shut off by itself.

This is making my cart unusable, I use it daily and now have not drove it since last Thursday. The simple process of throwing the charger on it and a couple hours layer it is ready to use is gone.

JonnieB, In order to check the two voltages in the circuit you show I would have to stay out in the 115 degree garage until the charger shuts off to monitor the voltage to see where it is when it shuts off. I am struggling with trying to figure out what part of the ferroresonant transformer, capacitor and diode would be at fault to shut off before a full charge. The Power Input board and the Control board have both been replaced with the new combined boards (two into one) when I first bought the cart because the charger did not shut off. Am I missing something?

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by azTony

In order to check the two voltages in the circuit you show I would have to stay out in the 115 degree garage until the charger shuts off to monitor the voltage to see where it is when it shuts off.

Or just walk out every 15 to 30 minutes and spend 5 seconds to take reading and jot it down. Take your final reading when the charger is done.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by azTony

JonnieB, In order to check the two voltages in the circuit you show I would have to stay out in the 115 degree garage until the charger shuts off to monitor the voltage to see where it is when it shuts off. I am struggling with trying to figure out what part of the ferroresonant transformer, capacitor and diode would be at fault to shut off before a full charge. The Power Input board and the Control board have both been replaced with the new combined boards (two into one) when I first bought the cart because the charger did not shut off. Am I missing something?

Perhaps I am picking nits, but neither the transformer, capacitor nor diodes shut off the charge.
They may not produce the amps or volts needed to fully charge the batteries, but they will run as long a AC power is applied to the transformer primary.

Let's try it this way.
Jumper the relay on the control board. (The picture shown is for a PW-II, but the same wires are connected together in a PW)

That converts the charger to a completely manual system.
It will turn on without being connected to the cart and it will stay on until unplugged from the wall outlet.

Plug into cart first and then plug into AC power.

What does the Ammeter climb to initially?
Should be 18A or higher.

If not, verify the open circuit voltage of the transformer is about 90VAC with capacitor connected and about 60VAC without it connected.

---------
If the voltage is correct, check the diodes.

If they are okay, check the wiring in the charger's output cable an in cart.

[azTony]

Excellant!! Thanks to both Yurtle for saving me from the sauna and the data supplied by JonnieB. Now I got to see if I have something to measure up to 480vac if required. Thanks, this is enough to make me dangerous tonight.

I have a new Panasonic Toughbook being delivered that will keep me busy in between the monitoring times. I will perform the test from the PDF supplied by JonnieB first, I would like to drive it tonight to take the dog to the lake and chase fish!

[JohnnieB]

Don't worry about measuring the 480VAC, the voltages you measure between the transformer leads that you disconnect from the diodes, with and without the capacitor connected, are the important ones.

Also, if you have a DVM with a Min/Max or a Peak Hold function, just let it sweat in the sauna and monitor the voltage while you play with your new toy.

[pete959]

if u plug up ur charger and amp meter only goes up 5 or 10 amps it is the compacitor

[azTony]

I jumped the transformer, plugged it in the cart then the outlet and it started at around 20 amps. I want to charge the batteries first so I can drive it tomorrow. I plan on installing software in my new Toughbook