New Cart to Me - Electrical/Charging Issues

[timogsu]

So over the weekend I picked up a 2004 Yamaha 48V Electric Cart. I love the cart but I'm already seeing a couple of issues on it. I'm also new to the golf cart maintenance world. I'm on here soaking it all up. Any help on the issues below would be appreciated.

1. Last night I'm driving around the neighborhood and I flip the headlight switch and the fuse blows instantly. There is a 5 AMP fuse under the seat and even after replacing I keep getting the same result. It's pretty clear that the fuse holder is worn and in need of replacement, but any ideas about what is causing this?

2. Last night I plugged in the cart and started charging it. The charger also a Yamaha 48V charger, seemed to be doing everything fine and then this morning I went down to the cart and it had stopped due to an Abnormal Cycle. I show the batteries were replaced in the cart in late 2014 and that the charger was also replaced around that time. The cart sat for about 6 months with no use before I bought it. Any ideas on how to remedy this? Are the batteries bad? I read that, my electrical issue above could be causing 2 of the batteries to be drained more than the others which could make it throw the abnormal cycle.

3. I'm also wondering about how you guys charge your carts. I'm reading run them until they are low and charge them and I'm also reading charge them after every use. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[smallblock450sl]

Check the voltage of the battery pack. If less then 44 volts, the charger won't turn on....it doesn't know it's plugged into anything. My recommendation, charge after each use.

[Volt_Ampere]

Try another charge cycle. Measure your battery voltage. Troubleshoot why your headlights are blowing the fuse. Five amp fuse sounds a little on the low side to me for those lights. That is only 60W. Most headlight bulbs are 55W each which would be 5 amps each.

[bart98stang]

For 2 working headlights 5 amp fuse is way to low. As stated above each lamp is 55 watts. 110 watts divide by 12 volts equals 9.16 amps your headlights are drawing. If you also have tail lights now all 4 are pulling 18.33 amps.

If you just have headlights use a 10 amp fuse. If you have both head lights and tail lights use 20 amp fuse.

[cgtech]

55w tail lights? Wow, those are bright! Also, your calculations that brought you to conclude a 10a fuse would likely result in a blown fuse when the battery is charging (at over 14v), the bulb load of 55w is calculated at 12v not 14v +.

[Volt_Ampere]

Actually, most automotive bulbs are rated at 13.5V not 12V because that is what the nominal voltage is when the engine is running in your car. Fusing is done for protecting the wires and not for the nominal load. I would use a 15 or 20 amp fuse for the light circuits.

[ichudov]

I had the exact same issue with ABNORMAL CYCLE as you are describing.

In my case (see my recent post) I opened the charger and saw one wire melted off the terminal. I reattached it and now I seem to be fine.

It essential to use a voltmeter when troubleshooting charging issues.

What is the voltage across batteries when NOT charging?

What is the voltage across batteries when it reports as charging?

Is the voltage on each battery about same?