Heavy Spark on new batteries.. Trying to troubleshoot

[dazed-n-confused]

I have a 2010 Club Car Precedent 48v PH1003-072734.

Kids left me with a non-working cart over a year ago and I am working to get this moving again. Cart would not take a charge and cells were dry, so started with the battery replacement. Cart is in tow, lights off, and ignition in off position. I installed and wired batteries properly in series and upon attaching last negative cable I got a large welding spark. Reading some of the forums I thought I might have an bad solenoid, so I replaced that, still large spark. So now I am stuck on this troubleshoot and need some guidance. Could it be a controller? Thanks for your assistance.

[Fairtax4me]

Double check that all of the cables are connected properly on the batteries. Post a pic of your battery compartment here if you're not sure.

You say the cart has headlights, where do those get power?
Does it have a voltage reducer to power those? Those can cause a decent arc when connecting the batteries as the capacitors in it are charging.

[dazed-n-confused]

Thanks for the help. No voltage reducer and the lights are powered off battery in upper left. Ill post a pic to eliminate the obvious.

I just replaced the solenoid and resistor and willing to replace more, just don't want to do it blindly.

[Fairtax4me]

I can see that negative post on #6 got hot in a hurry. That’s way more juice than what I was thinking. Don’t try to hook that up again because something is way wrong. Did the negative on #3 burn as well?

I kinda think that would have to be a controller issue, or some cables got crossed in the controller area or one of the main cables got pinched somehow. A solenoid issue will not cause that unless someone put the cables on it wrong and they would have to be touching the chassis somehow.

Check the cables on the motor and controller for anything obvious. Any touching the frame or any metal parts other than the terminals they’re supposed to be on.

[Mooncarter]

Like FT said. Looks like you have dead short somewhere.

Not that it matters as far as this problem, but 2 of your new batteries are over a year old.

[Jake_Daddy]

You could try hooking your meter up on amp mode between the pack negative and that last cable. It would give you an amp draw reading that may help determine what the issue is. ...the caveat is if the draw is really big it may blow the fuse in your meter.

[Fairtax4me]

Originally Posted by Jake_Daddy

You could try hooking your meter up on amp mode between the pack negative and that last cable. It would give you an amp draw reading that may help determine what the issue is. ...the caveat is if the draw is really big it may blow the fuse in your meter.

Pretty sure in this case that's a BAD Idea. Gonna cook that meter instantly.
Whatever this one is, it's way bigger than what any normal multi-meter is able to handle.

[WalterM6]

Here's a better idea. Put your meter in ohms mode. Connect the neg lead to the disconnected large black lead. Disconnect all of the leads from the large positive cable on the batteries and connect them to the red positive lead on the multimeter. Then start disconnecting the reducer wires, the battery charging wires, until your meter reads OL. Then if it isn't obvious where the short is ask here again. BTW without the contactor pulled in the battery pack is effectively disconnected so I'm almost certain the short has to be in the charging circuit or the 12 volt accessory circuit.

[dazed-n-confused]

I have sparked a few posts during this trying to figure something out. I was prepared to pull the trigger on a controller, just needed some sort of confirmation. Good call on the battery date, might be returning that to Sams since its a year old and charred the post. You guys a D&D or Alltrax fan or whats your thoughts on a controller upgrade with a stock motor? The Solenoid is heavy duty accommodate.

[dazed-n-confused]

Ill try the OHM method while I brew on controller options and see what I can find, thanks for the suggestion.