Battery and Charging Problems

[hyzdufan]

I recently acquired a 1993 Club Car DS 36V cart and I’m having some trouble with it already. The previous owner told me it was fully charged and I rode it around (on flat ground) without any issue. Brought it home and it crawled up hills at 6ish mph. Opened it up and the batteries were bone dry. Watered them with distilled water. Went to back it out of the driveway and the cart went super slow in reverse. Not sure why. Pulled it back inside to use the charger for the first time and the charger (Lester Links series) charger normal for a half hour or so (flashing yellow) but continuously trips my breaker even though it’s alone on the circuit. Now I’ve reset the breaker the charger illuminates solid green as if it’s fully charged but the yellow blinks slowly. It shows no fault red light. The charger hums for half a second and stops. What in the world is going on? Haha, help me please. I’m a total newb at this.

[simicrintz]

Pretty sure those that are smarter than me will ask what the individual voltages are of each battery. You may want to check with a multi meter but will most likely want to check with a hydrometer also.

Post up your serial number and you will get help; this is a great page with lots of helpful folks!

[Tom47]

Originally Posted by simicrintz

Pretty sure those that are smarter than me will ask what the individual voltages are of each battery. You may want to check with a multi meter but will most likely want to check with a hydrometer also.

Post up your serial number and you will get help; this is a great page with lots of helpful folks!

Also, I have a hard time believing the sellers comment that the "batteries are fully charged" can be an honest statement from him. Water level checking on FLA cart batteries is the most important maintenance function you can do. He was not doing that, and just hooking up the charger will not help the situation.

Do what simicrintz said, and also post the date code of the batteries. It can be found on the top of the negative terminals with a single letter and single number or on a tag some where on the side of the batteries. Without that date code, it is hard to give more advice.

I do feel the batteries are toast however. Lester Links charger experts will be along to explain the light notifications.

[Scott quail]

Could be an issue with the charger. If its flipping the breaker, id have it checked out. Could be the timer board. Also, lester has a recall on some links chargers. What is the serial number of the charger?

[hyzdufan]

Thank you all for the quick replies. The cart serial numbers starts with A93, and the charger is definitely one of the ones that is out for recall. I ordered a new charger from Amazon and it should arrive tomorrow. Can someone give me a link on Amazon or Walmart on what I would need to test individual batteries? They are date coded 12/18 - so not terrible. I'm so new at this - if I need to buy some new batteries, that's not a big deal.

[Tom47]

Originally Posted by hyzdufan

Thank you all for the quick replies. The cart serial numbers starts with A93, and the charger is definitely one of the ones that is out for recall. I ordered a new charger from Amazon and it should arrive tomorrow. Can someone give me a link on Amazon or Walmart on what I would need to test individual batteries? They are date coded 12/18 - so not terrible. I'm so new at this - if I need to buy some new batteries, that's not a big deal.

I hope you're right about the batteries. I have heard of failures earlier than 2 years with poor battery maintenance.

Mine were dry when I bought the cart in 2016. They were Crown C13 batteries so I felt I would need to replace them soon. I filled them with distilled water, over a gallon total, and hooked up the charger. That was 5 years ago and I just pulled them out to install lithium battery. They were exactly 8-1/2 years old and still got me 20+ miles per charge! So anything is possible.

Good news on the new charger. What brand did you get? If it is a smart charger it may bring some life back into those batteries.

You just need a digital volt meter to check your batteries. A hydrometer and a load tester are nice but not absolutely necessary. Any digital meter from a cheap one on Amazon to an expensive Fluke (arguably the best) will work good for you.

Before you charge the batteries, make sure all terminals are clean, shiny and tight. Remove each one separately to clean them with a wire brush. Disconnect the main 36+ and 36- first before doing the series cables. Then hook the 36+ and 36- back up. A good way to avoid overtightening the terminal screws is with a 1/2" nutdriver.

Hook up your new charger and let it charge until it shuts off and goes to the maintenance cycle. It would be good to leave it hooked up overnight.

12 to 24 hours after charging and removing the charger, you want to see 38.2 volts across the full pack and 6.37 volts on each battery to indicate 100% charge. Nothing needs to be disconnected to measure these voltages. If the voltages are lower than this, post the numbers here and we'll follow up with recommendations.

Good luck

A couple of information links:

https://buggiesgonewild.com/attachme...2&d=1289853436

https://buggiesgonewild.com/attachme...9&d=1504005734

[hyzdufan]

Thank you for all the links and information. I forgot to mention that when I filled one of the batteries, I overfilled one of the compartments way too full, and then had to drain out a good bit of the acidy-water - did I damage the battery doing this?

[Bama Brad]

No, or at least not near as bad as guy you bought it from allowing batteries to become dry....here is the voltmeter you need for testing your cart:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Digital-L...eter/318458350

Also, get this for your dash if you don't have one:
https://www.cartsunlimited.net/battery-meters.html

[hyzdufan]

All right here’s what I’ve been doing since I got my multimeter in the mail from Amazon today. I am able to test all of the batteries and they all read around 6.5 V. However, when I try to test the batteries in series here is what I have found out. Four of the batteries test successfully to 26 V. However, when I jump from the fourth to the fifth battery there is no increase in voltage and it remains at 26 V. The same Thing happens when adding in the sixth battery. It stays at 26 V. When I use the Multi meter to test continuity between the batteries they all come back 0.0. I am stumped.

The plot thickens as I do more snooping around. I followed from the 5th and 6th batteries two small black and red wires that seem to lead into a plastic coiled wire sheath that leads under the cart to connect with another set of wires (r,y,b,bk,org/w,gr/w) below the charging port. The green and white wire is connected to some kind of terminal post, but on the other side an orange and white wire has been severed. What does this do?

This is fun - like a mystery. Thank you all for your help.

[Tom47]

Originally Posted by hyzdufan

All right here’s what I’ve been doing since I got my multimeter in the mail from Amazon today. I am able to test all of the batteries and they all read around 6.5 V. However, when I try to test the batteries in series here is what I have found out. Four of the batteries test successfully to 26 V. However, when I jump from the fourth to the fifth battery there is no increase in voltage and it remains at 26 V. The same Thing happens when adding in the sixth battery. It stays at 26 V. When I use the Multi meter to test continuity between the batteries they all come back 0.0. I am stumped.

Do you have all of the batteries connected in series when you read the pack voltage? Double check all are negative to positive and you don't accidentally have a negative to negative and/or a positive to positive.

If all six are connected in series and each reads 6.5 volts, you should have 38 to 39 volts approximately. The only way for the voltage to be 26 across the pack is if two are not correctly in series. A bad connection might do it also.

Instead of continuity, check for voltage between each positive and negative cable connection. You will actually be checking for voltage drop across the cable and terminals which should be zero volts.

I would disconnect those small wires for now until you get the pack voltage correct. They may be to a voltage reducer. In any event, they may have been to provide 12 volts for lights, etc. You want to use a 36 volt to 12 volt reducer for that so the batteries can charge and discharge equally.