08’ 48v txt smoking, motor hot

[Jeverall]

Ok, do I leave it on the charger for the 12 hrs post completion? Or wait until charge complete, disconnect, then wait 12 hrs to test?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[yurtle]

It depends on the charger. A Powerwise will just turn off when it's satisfied.

[Jeverall]

Thank you. So to be certain (in case I don’t know what the heck this delta qui-q does) should I just unplug once it shows complete, then wait 12 hrs and then test the batteries?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[yurtle]

Is it mounted onboard or separate? Either way, to be safe, unplug it. Some charger go into "float" mode after charging is complete. Do you have a manual for your charger? You should get the make and model number, and try to track one down, since you said you were having trouble completing a charger cycle. What is it doing? Is it tripping your garage breaker?

[Jeverall]

Originally Posted by yurtle

Is it mounted onboard or separate? Either way, to be safe, unplug it. Some charger go into "float" mode after charging is complete. Do you have a manual for your charger? You should get the make and model number, and try to track one down, since you said you were having trouble completing a charger cycle. What is it doing? Is it tripping your garage breaker?

It’s the “Delta Qui-Q”.. 1kw industrial charger Right now it shows charger complete and it is “maintenance mode” I will monitor it and see if it holds for 12hrs, and then test.

It is not Tripping the breaker but the charger seems to throws error codes if used repeatedly without giving it a long rest. It’s thrown the following:
1)low battery voltage fault
2) internal charger fault
3) or ammeter will flash indicating “output reduced due to internal charger temperature”

I don’t fully understand the ammeter. However when I entered my carts serial # on ezgo website it does show this charger as default/factory option that came with this cart.





Q”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jeverall]

It’s been on “complete” and in “maintenance” mode for about 4hrs. I just took a reading and they are each reading about 6.33 or 50.65 total.

When it first showed “complete” some of them were reading 6.8-7.0.... it like they have dropped since it’s been sitting there? [emoji848]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by Jeverall

It’s been on “complete” and in “maintenance” mode for about 4hrs. I just took a reading and they are each reading about 6.33 or 50.65 total.

When it first showed “complete” some of them were reading 6.8-7.0.... it like they have dropped since it’s been sitting there? [emoji848]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reading your previous attachment, Maintenance mode is active with solid green light (I think, hard to read) and sounds to me like it's a "float" or "trickle" mode. The former is constant voltage and the latter is constant current.

Any voltage above 6.37 is artificially high due to surface charge. This dissipates after 12 hours or more, but will also be used by driving a short distance.

You can probably do a driving test. First measure pack voltage while climbing a hill. Write that number down. Repeat for the rest of the batteries and that will let you know if you have one or more that really drops voltage a lot. You mentioned that one battery is newer. Probably a bad one was replaced. Since the others were likely manufactured in the same batch as the bad one that got replaced, you may find another one or two.

If you get the smoke again, try really hard to determine where it's coming from.

In the future, it's best to attach photos. You can attach full size pics, which are more useful in trying to read. You can also post a link.

[Jeverall]

WILL DO- THANK YOU!!

I live in Florida so pretty flat :) I really don’t have any hills in my neighborhood , but I will take a short drive and remeasure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ThreeCW]

Jeverall,

Deep cycle golf cart batteries go through a 2 or 3 stage charge profile which includes Bulk Charge + Absorption Charge or Bulk Charge + Absorption Charge + Finish Charge. See the attached info on Trojan batteries. For a typical T105 battery (225 amp-hours capacity at 20 hrs) the optimal charge rates (specified by Trojan) are as follows:
Bulk Charge: approx. 59 volts at up to 23 amps (most chargers are not powerful enough for this high of an amperage)
Absorption Charge: 56 - 59 volts dropping to about 6 - 7 amps
Finish Charge: 65 volts at about 6 - 7 amps

As you can see, at the end of your charge cycle (not sure which profile your charger uses), you are charging your 48 volt pack using 56 to 65 volts. This is normal but surprises most people at first.

This is why after your batteries are disconnected from the charger, they at an elevated voltage (often referred to as surface charge). It takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours (or longer) for this "surface charge" to stabilize down to their actual state of charge. My personal experience on my 11 month old battery pack, is that it will actually take 36 to 48 hrs for them to really stabilize. Note that if waiting for them to stabilize so that you can determine the true state of charge, you must disconnect the battery pack from the charger ... as the maintenance charge (if so equipped) will keep them at an elevated state of charge.

As Yurtle suggests, you can also dissipate the "surface charge" but driving a short distance (I would suggest 1/2 mile or so) and then park the cart, let the battery voltage stabilize for 1 hour (some people will say 5 minutes), then take the battery pack and individual battery voltages (record to two decimal places ... 6.37 volts for example). You can then compare your stabilized voltages to the previously attached "State of Charge" charts ... which will help you to ultimately their health.

I am not sure if the battery health is at all related to your smoking hot motor, but it is certainly a starting point. Hot motors are often associated with heavy work at low speeds ... poor cooling at low speeds but I don't suspect that this was your case ... at least the heavy work part.

You likely have some motor problems going on as LukeL suggested ... to begin with, I would suggest to have a look at your motor and see if anything it interfering with the cooling. As a Hail Mary play, you might try blowing some compressed air through the motor cooling ports to ensure that everything is clear. You will likely get a bunch of black dust from brush wear come out but the air should be able to pass through the motor easily.

You asked: Is this battery/corrosion possible source of smoke/ smell??
This is very, very unlikely ... bordering on "not possible".

If you are not able to trouble shoot why your motor is overheating, you may have to resort to the "golf cart specialist" that you referred to in your first post.

[yurtle]

He mentioned fairly short run time, I think. I agree that it seems unlikely that battery corrosion could cause smoke that smells like burnt plastic. Given it appeared to be in the motor area, that's a likely place to look. You can pull the motor apart and check the brushes, though I'm not sure that could cause burnt plastic smell. Your wife drove less than 5 minutes, so I doubt the motor could be hot enough to melt plastic, but maybe? The motor has a good deal of thermal inertia, Steel laminations in the rotor and stator, and your motor looks beefier, being a shuttle. However you indicate you drove it again with no problem, so it fixed itself? Intermittent problems can be frustrating. Hard to find correlation/causation when it isn't consistent.

Are you sure your motor is overheating? They can easily reach 200° F when pushed hard. You can use an IR temperature heat gun, or just lick a finger and make sure it doesn't sizzle. As I mentioned, with all of that thermal mass it will often get hotter outside the case once you stop driving.

From a dead stop, punch it, and not the lowest voltage for each battery. This is load testing, and with no hills, punchin' it from a dead stop is a pretty good load. Try and install your DVM. Anything less than that is pretty much worthless, especially the bar chart ones.