2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

Hello everyone, we use our 36 volt 2002 club car to tow small aircraft around the airfield. One day it stopped moving all together. I have no doubt this is because of how we use it. After rigorous research and troubleshooting I found there was some current draw which drained the batteries down to about 2 volts. I trickle-charged them all back up to about 6.2 volts per battery. I lost the keys so I put in a simple toggle switch. I rewired the entire activation circuit, replaced solenoid, replaced ms on f/r assembly, replaced ms on pedal drive assembly. Tested motor terminals for shorts to ground; good there. I have the cart drive-able now but the precharge resistor across the two large solenoid posts heats up beginning to melt the plastic covering when the pedal is only pressed a bit. So before it fried the resistor I pulled it out, tested it again just to be sure it works. I want to find out why there is current being pulled through it when it should all be going through the solenoid. Any insight is helpful, thanks.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

A 2002 DS with a 36 volt system would be a resistor style setup, therefore it would not use a pre-charge resistor at all. Unless you've got a controller on the cart, the resistor needs to be removed.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

The wiring diagram shows a snubber across the terminals.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

The snubber is bad and You can either throw it away or buy a new one if it is still available, part #102047201.

If You look at that model wiring diagram, as long as the FNR is in either the Forward or Reverse positions, there is a complete circuit if the Solenoid is allowing current across the big posts.

The snubber is not supposed to conduct current during normal operation, it is designed to only provide a current path if an arc is created during contact opening.

As long as You don't change directions with the accelerator pressed, there is very little chance of the solenoid making or breaking connection under load so the snubber is irrelevant.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

Alright, I hooked everything back up and put it on the charger. Now im seeing 20 amp draw from charger and 39.6 volts across the batteries. When I leave the charger on for about 30 seconds I can hear the center two battieries boiling inside.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

Disconnect the charger and read the voltage at the cart charger receptacle to make sure it is wired correctly to the entire pack.

Are You sure they are boiling or just gassing?

Did You verify the water is above the plates in all batteries?

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

I double checked voltage at the receptacle, wired correctly and same as batteries. I can hear the water inside boiling. Those two are .2 volts higher than the other 4 batteries if that makes a difference

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

Those batteries may be gone, draining the batteries down to 2v sometimes causes irreversible damage.

If You have a regular 12v car battery charger go ahead and charge 2 batteries at the time, the car charger has a lower charging current and may bring them up to voltage in a more gentle way.

You don't have to disconnect the cables, just start at the pack negative and charge the first 2 batteries, then move the charger leads to the next 2 batteries until You get them all charged.

Re: 2002 Electric Club Car DS (36-volt) Solenoid pre-charge resistor overheating
 

The batteries do not boil (212º) they gas. The release of hydrogen gasses from the bottom of the batteries is quite common in both new and older batteries. It is harmless unless there is an open ignition source and indicates heavy or bulk charging.