97 DS OBC bypass / charging issues.

[BertAcart]

Good day,

I have a 1997 DS(A9748-625149) that I'm trying to fix for a family member. I'm not familiar with anything that's been done to the cart in the past and the only info I got from her was that it stopped charging at the end of last season. Got it home, checked batts(46.8 pack voltage) and plugged the charger in and did not kick on. Checked charger on my Precedent and it worked normally, checked the DS with my charger and no go. So, I believe I have diagnosed a bad OBC. I jumped the fused grey wire on the back of charging port to pack (-), charger relay kicked on but very low amps. I then ran 8 ga. wire from charging port (-) to pack (-) and plugged in charger and it kicked in with 15 amps showing. From what I've read on the forum, All that's needed to bypass OBC on this cart is to cut the yellow wire that runs from solenoid to OBC and connect it to the B- on controller, and run wire from charge port (-) to pack (-).
When I do this, the charger will not kick on. I then cut the grey wire and connected it to the B(-) on the controller, charger kicks on and charges until charger is unplugged. I checked continuity of the yellow wire and it's good. Am I missing a step? Is there anything wrong with leaving the grey wire hooked to B- on controller and running a smart charger to control charging? I have attached a few pics that may help clarify what I'm trying to explain.

Thanks.

[Fairtax4me]

The OBC on that cart provides the negative for the solenoid to operate via the yellow wire. The OBC controls the negative side so the cart will not function when the charger is plugged in.
Jumping the Yellow wire to B- provides negative so the OBC no longer controls the solenoid and the cart will now operate regardless.

To use a smart charger simply connect together the Two Black 10awg wires that go to the OBC.
The Grey wire is not needed and can be removed. If you need or want to have a working lockout function so that cart will not operate with the charger plugged in then the grey wire can be used for that with certain chargers. Otherwise just tape it up so it doesn't touch anything.

Pics here that may help. Since your cart is a series cart, the part about the Blue and White wires mentioned does not apply to your cart.
https://www.buggiesgonewild.com/showthread.php?t=164786

[BertAcart]

Thanks for the response. Please forgive my ignorance, but, looking for some clarification. I have wired the (-) on charging port to pack(-), which, as far as I can tell, accomplishes the same thing as cutting and joining the 2 10 awg black wires behind OBC.( I just unhooked these 2 wires from back of charging port and B(-) on controller. I have run the yellow wire from solenoid to B(-) on controller. With this, shouldn't the Powerdrive charger kick on as soon as it's plugged in and run until unplugged? The only way I can get the charger to kick on is by touching the grey fused wire to a pack negative source. Do I have to start looking for something that's been rewired, mis-wired/ bypassed previously?

[Sergio]

You need to run the Gray wire to a negative source to start the old PowerDrive charger.

The black wire you ran from charger receptacle to pack negative removed the OBC current control and allows for the charger full current to reach the batteries.

You need both of those connections for the old charger to work in manual mode.

[BertAcart]

OK. Thanks. So, for the Powerdrive charger to work the grey has to be hooked to neg. But when a smart charger is sourced, grey wire can be discarded and just need small yellow from solenoid to B- on controller and all should work? Thanks for the help guys.

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by BertAcart

OK. Thanks. So, for the Powerdrive charger to work the grey has to be hooked to neg. But when a smart charger is sourced, grey wire can be discarded and just need small yellow from solenoid to B- on controller and all should work? Thanks for the help guys.

Correct, but You also need to keep the 10ga black negative wire from charger receptacle to pack negative.

[BertAcart]

Got it. Thanks again for all the help fellas. Much appreciated.