36 volt charger

[dannyferris]

I have an issue with my charger. When I plug it in to the cart it turns on for just a second then turns off. If I do this repeatedly it will kick on finally and work but most of the time it just shuts off. Is there anyone out there that knows what this might be and if it can be fixed. Thank you for your time and effort.

[simple man]

I'll take a wild guess, since I don't know what cart or charger you have.
Bad connections at the dc connecting plug. Try cleaning both the plug contacts and the receptacle on the cart. Also it wouldn't hurt to check the connections of the charging wire terminals where they connect to the batteries.

[dannyferris]

I have replaced both plugs (cart and charger) Ezgo marathon 36 volt cart 1993 and ezgo charger not sure of exact model but it has a III on it

[JohnnieB]

My guess is that it is a Total Charge III, but to be sure, post a picture of faceplate.

How many Amps show on ammeter when it comes on?
How many amps right before it shuts off?

Like simple man said, clean the contacts and check for bad wires in the charging loop.

[dannyferris]

It seems like it bounces up to max and bouces right back down. I used another charger and it works fine so its not in the cart.

[JohnnieB]

Sounds like the the charger is basically working, but cutting off too soon.

Two things come to mind.
1. Bad control board.
2. High resistance in charge loop. (You've already verified that the parts of the charge loop inside the cart are okay because a different charger works with cart.)

Here is a schematic for a TC-III.
Using an Ohmmeter, measure from the Negative terminal (Black wire attached) at the output plug to the charger's Ammeter terminal with one Black wire attached.
Should be ZERO Ohms.

Measure from Positive terminal (White, or maybe Red wire) to heatsink.
Should be nearly Zero Ohms. (I'm not sure how many Ohms the 50A breaker has, but not many.)

Since we know the cart is okay, you might try bypassing the 50A breaker to see if the charger stays on when plugged into cart.
Use a heavy jumper wire because there will be 20A of current through it.

If the charge loop inside the charger checks out okay, my guess is that the control board is bad.

[dannyferris]

Thank you so much for the info and I will try this as soon as I get home from work. I do appreciate all the info you have provided throughout all my threads. Johnnie is the best!

[simple man]

Originally Posted by dannyferris

It seems like it bounces up to max and bouces right back down. I used another charger and it works fine so its not in the cart.

Make sure you wired the plugs correctly. White is + Black is -