Only 36.4 volts on each charge?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by 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

Let it charger until the on-charge voltage reaches at least 45V, or about 12 hours.

[azTony]

Start charging at 36.4V

Monitor it throughout the day and it struggled to get past 38V but finally did

Hours later when it was about 11 hours into the charge it was at 44.8V, highest since I bought it

Check it again 30 minutes later and it is at 48.1V, waited until 12 hours and stopped charging and it ended at 48.1V when I unplugged it

When I unplugged it the reading went to 44.1V and steadied out there

About 20 minutes later it was at 40.6V

Then 2 hours and 45 minutes later when I went to walk the dog it was at 38.3V

Any comments? Is that normal? All batteries are under warranty still so is there anything wrong with the batteries?

[rib33024]

48.1 is up there for a 36 volt pack, if they got to 48.1 i would say there doing good,let them settle for 12 hours and get some readings and you will see if there ok

[Sir Nuke]

Tony, your charger is doing what it should, and the fact that the charge after 12 hrs is 38.3V is normal and exactly what it shold be.

[JohnnieB]

For the first time in their life, your batteries are being "Fully" charged.

They dropped to 38.3 in about 3 hours, so they will probable drop to about 38.0 or less after 12 hours of rest.

Unfortunately, having been undercharged for 15 months has most likely taken its toll and your batteries have aged more than they normally would have, or in other words, the plates are more sulfated than they normally would be at that age.

Fortunately, going through the battery break-in process again will recover some of the lost storage capacity.

They are going to gas a lot while doing it, so keep an eye on the fluid levels and don't let the plates get exposed.

The voltage after 12 hours of rest will tell you the SoC, which in turn will tell you what the storage capacity is.
After a few full charges and light discharges, the SoC will climb up some.

My eighteen month old T-105 batteries would only store 85% when I got my cart and after a couple months of TLC, they were up to about 95%, and climbed higher after I went to a charger that went into float charge after the regular charge cycle completed.

[azTony]

Now I need to set my charger back to automatic (remove the jumper) and see how the charger works with the batteries up to par.

[JohnnieB]

If the pack is staying at 38.2 after 12 hours rest, okay.

If it doesn't, I'd use the charger with the jumper installed for a couple weeks to see how much storage capacity you can recover.

[azTony]

Ok, here we go again...

The charger does not turn on again. I measure 36.2 at the battery charge terminals on the cart and the 2 highlighted wires on the schematic at the control board measure the same. It does not turn on.

I jump the terminals to by-pass and it starts charging?!?!?

[JohnnieB]

Either the battery sense circuit is not sensing the battery pack, or the control board is bad.

Disconnect charger from AC power and disconnect from cart.

Open charger and connect your DVM between the small (~18Ga) red and black wires on control board.
(Might be easier to connect at other end of wires. The red one attaches to the heatsink and the black one connects to the third wire in the output cable.)
See attached. Might not be same control board, but the wiring is the same.

Plug charger into cart. (BUT NOT INTO AC POWER!!!!)

You should read cart's battery pack voltage between the wires.

* If not, check for dirty contact in the powerwise plug or or broken battery sense wire in the cable. The auxiliary contact touches the outside of the Negative radsok.

* If so, the control board is bad.

[azTony]

I did that test before I jumped it and the voltage from the battery pack is equal to the voltage measured at those two wires.

I just bought this control board when I bought the cart in January. How can it turn to crap already?