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Old 07-19-2021, 09:56 AM   #1
joepiccaso
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Default Battery Pack SoC Voltages

First I have a Red Hawk analog SoC meter on my dash. I thought that's what was recommended, but further reading seems the Digital ones that show the voltage are better. Be that as it may, I still have some questions about the SoC with regard to Battery Pack voltage. The analog Meter seems to show a great charge, even when I was down to <8% SoV according to the app on my Lester II 1050W charger. I'll replace that one with a Digital on later, but I need some help with the Battery pack voltage readings.



I have a 48V system, 8-6V batteries, all about 2 years old and in good shape, new cables and no loose or corroded connections, water is good and SG is all w/i limits. So, what should my voltage read when fully charged? The charts I found here say 50.93V. According to the data supplied by my charger app, I get a reading of 53.7V and when the batteries were really low, <8% SoV, I still had a reading of a little over 51V, but they were about to totally run out, and the cart was sluggish and would barely climb a hill. I know that Red Hawk SoV meter is probably bad, but the Charger app seems to be quite accurate, Though I haven't compared it to a multimeter recently, but I will. So, are those higher voltage readings OK, or is there a problem with the Charger? It's real confusion to me, though. If I do get a Digital SoC meter, I still need to know how to read the Voltages displayed.
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Old 07-21-2021, 01:17 PM   #2
kernal
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Default Re: Battery Pack SoC Voltages

Quote:
Originally Posted by joepiccaso View Post
First I have a Red Hawk analog SoC meter on my dash. I thought that's what was recommended, but further reading seems the Digital ones that show the voltage are better. Be that as it may, I still have some questions about the SoC with regard to Battery Pack voltage. The analog Meter seems to show a great charge, even when I was down to <8% SoV according to the app on my Lester II 1050W charger. I'll replace that one with a Digital on later, but I need some help with the Battery pack voltage readings.



I have a 48V system, 8-6V batteries, all about 2 years old and in good shape, new cables and no loose or corroded connections, water is good and SG is all w/i limits. So, what should my voltage read when fully charged? The charts I found here say 50.93V. According to the data supplied by my charger app, I get a reading of 53.7V and when the batteries were really low, <8% SoV, I still had a reading of a little over 51V, but they were about to totally run out, and the cart was sluggish and would barely climb a hill. I know that Red Hawk SoV meter is probably bad, but the Charger app seems to be quite accurate, Though I haven't compared it to a multimeter recently, but I will. So, are those higher voltage readings OK, or is there a problem with the Charger? It's real confusion to me, though. If I do get a Digital SoC meter, I still need to know how to read the Voltages displayed.
Currently I have 2 carts, both 48v and 21 years of experience owning electric golf carts. These carts are used like autos and can get many miles away from home (charger) so I need a "gas" gage of some sort. This is hard to do with electric vehicles. Ask Tesla.
I have the same charger as you on one of the carts. I find the app misleading and what it tells you depends on when you look at it because battery voltages cycle over time. Acceleration causes voltage sag, charging brings voltage up much higher than resting voltage. Modern chargers take 48v batteries over 60v to charge them completely and then it takes hours for the pack to stabilize to a resting voltage that is accurate enough to indicate the actual "state of charge".
So I say this: disregard the app. when done with the cart for the day put it on the charger (every time you use it. don't let it sit overnight or longer with partially charged flooded batteries) . Let the charger finish. On mine a slow blinking yellow light is followed by a rapid blinking yellow (80% charge) and then steady yellow (finish charge) and then green when complete. The 80% light is bogus. I know this because if I only run 10% of the battery so it is 90% charged when I put it on the charger I still get the rapid yellow blinking during the charge cycle. The app will lie to you the same way. Check the battery voltage with a hand held digital meter (new battery in it also) against the chart but only check it at least 10 hours after the charger has finished (true resting voltage) I have installed a digital meter on the dash that is always on so I can see the voltage (state of charge) every time I walk past the cart.
Now what to do about "gas" gage while the cart is in use. There is no really good answer especially in the price range of golf carts. The digital gage on my dash cycles whenever the cart is in motion. So it drops a lot when accelerating and then recovers slowly but still cycles with pedal pressure or going up hills. To get a sense of state of charge you have to stop and let the batteries rest for at least 15 minutes and then compare to the chart. After a while you get a feel for this and you don't need to refer to the chart all the time and this works for many people. It works for me as a diagnostic tool but not for a gas gage. If you really need some sort of gas gage, that is a little different discussion which I will pursue if you want to.
Summary: charge the cart after every use, periodically check voltage with a hand held meter and compare to chart but remember it makes a difference WHEN you use the meter. You can look at the app if you want but be skeptical about what it says.
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Old 07-21-2021, 02:21 PM   #3
Bama Brad
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Default Re: Battery Pack SoC Voltages

Kernal advice is spot on. Put on charger after riding 5 minutes or 5 hours. Batteries love to be charged. After you get the digital meter, you will become used to how it reacts to different situations and will be able to spot trouble. On my cart, it will drop voltage about 10% when under a load (i.e., driving up a hill). It is usually at 38.2volts when I get on it to drive. If I see anything different, I know somethings up.
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Old 07-24-2021, 08:28 AM   #4
Go Solar
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Default Re: Battery Pack SoC Voltages

State of charge is a difficult thing to capture. Especially with flooded lead acid batteries. It is a constantly changing animal, dependent on many factors, like temperature, age, and treatment of said batts. A state of charge meter is a coulomb counter usually taking readings from a shunt. It is only a calculator basing its info on the numbers you give it.
A new FLA battery might not even reach its stated capacity til it is cycled 300 times. And it will continually drop from there. A digital volt meter is a guess at best, however if you get used to checking it often under different conditions it can be the best we got for now.
I tried a Relion SOC gauge and it worked for about a year and then it failed altogether, so I am going to try another brand.
I have solar panels on my cart and its nice to see exactly how many amps are going in and out of my batteries while driving around.
There aren't too many SOC gauges available that are reliable. I have been installing solar for 25 years and Bogart Engineering's Tri-Metric is the most accurate and reliable coulomb counter on the market, but it also requires monthly or yearly adjustments of data input.
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