Drained Batteries

[MudHog]

They have been sitting since last night. I'll post the individual voltages when I get home for lunch. I also planned to jack the rear up and run the motor to discharge the batteries some, then plug the charger back in being it's to wet to pull it out the shop. I'll record the voltages before I run the cart though.

[MudHog]

After sitting overnight.

36.5

6.3
6.3
6.0
6.0
6.0
6.0

[MudHog]

May be a charger issue. Started charging and was reading 38.8v while charging. Unplugged DC plug to check voltage being I ran the cart in place and was now the charger starts and then stops. Bank voltage is 36.3v.

[joesam]

Although it sorta does sound like a charger issue, you should probably give it one last chance by running the cart for a while, and then plugging it in to see if it will complete a full cycle. All the plugging and unplugging might just be puzzling the built-in timer (maybe thats not happening though). It does sound like your batteries got way-too-low the first time and this is where it all started. How long did it run when you measured the 38.8 volts.....long enough so it seemed like it was gonna keep going?

[MudHog]

At lunch, I ran the cart with the rear wheels elevated for close to 20 minutes. That was at 36.5 volts after sitting overnight. I then started charging, but then thought to check voltage. Voltage was 38.8 while on the charger when first plugged. Then I thought I should have checked the voltage after running the cart and unplugged the DC plug and voltage was 36.3v.


I'm wishing I would have checked the voltage back when the cart was dead, but I didn't. This episode taught me about the resitor coils drawing power even if the cart isn't moving, which has me now looking at the solid state conversion. I also learned from this that the resistor setup draws 100% amperage even if the pedal is 10% and the remaining 90% is wasted as heat. Needless to say I've learned alot in the last couple days, I just hope my brand new batteries aren't detroyed.

[joesam]

resitor coils drawing power even if the cart isn't moving

I don't think that's right - I think only one solenoid is activated (and maybe not even one) and if it is - its using only a tiny amount of power - but your right on the toaster-oven effect once the cart is moving.

[MudHog]

Originally Posted by joesam

I don't think that's right - I think only one solenoid is activated (and maybe not even one) and if it is - its using only a tiny amount of power - but your right on the toaster-oven effect once the cart is moving.

What I meant is when the key is on and cart not moving the resistors still draw power. This is possibly what caused my battery drain Sunday as I had left the key on while I moved some hay from barn to barn with the tractor.

[Sergio]

That is not the way it should work, you either have a welded solenoid or a bad or mis-adjusted microswitch in the v-glide.

[Volt_Ampere]

No No and NO! It does not draw power when it is not moving unless there is something wrong. At 10% throttle you do not have 100% current by any stretch! The resistors limit the current. Yes they get hot and are not as efficient as a SS controller but they are not wasting most of the power.

[Sergio]

Just a thought, but in case you do have a problem with the solenoid stuck, put the FNR switch in Neutral and see if it chargers correctly.