Allied Lifepo 48v charger status LED remains green

[bevelsport]

BTW - thanks to everyone for jumping in here. My initial thoughts were that the charger was malfunctioning. The fact that the status LED is green under any condition rings an alarm for me.

[augiedoggy]

If it helps here are the voltage and bms specs for these batteries.. I would have assumed if the cells were simply out of balance that at least one would charge to a higher voltage than the rest but I guess theres something here im also unaware of. it is interesting the bms allows such a high cutoff of 3.9v per cell. I set mine to not allow more than the forementioned 3.65v. Im also kinda surprised the bms allows a discharge to 2.0v per cell as I assumed that was detrimental to the lifespan of the battery.

I assume these batteries are not made with 4 of the larger cells in series but more likely many of the smaller round cells inside

[augiedoggy]

Originally Posted by bevelsport

BTW - thanks to everyone for jumping in here. My initial thoughts were that the charger was malfunctioning. The fact that the status LED is green under any condition rings an alarm for me.

Could very well be. The website shows what appears to be a variant of the same popular chinese smart chargers so many are selling.

You might also just have a bad wiring connection?
As CP241 asked, did this just stop working out of the blue?

Have you verified continuity from the charger to the battery terminals?
You should be seeing at least an initial higher voltage when the charger is first connected unless its dead or theres a bad connection.

[bevelsport]

Originally Posted by augiedoggy

Could very well be. The website shows what appears to be a variant of the same popular chinese smart chargers so many are selling.

You might also just have a bad wiring connection?
As CP241 asked, did this just stop working out of the blue?

Have you verified continuity from the charger to the battery terminals?
You should be seeing at least an initial higher voltage when the charger is first connected unless its dead or theres a bad connection.

This began last week when we had a shot of weather with temps under 20F. The SOC on the Allied meter would top out a 66% and not improve. That degraded to a 30% max. That's when I shut the cart down and contacted Allied.

Looking back on that, I must admit that I never noticed if the LED was green at that time. I did notice that the "lightning bolt" on the Allied meter was active so I just assumed that it was charging. In retrospect, the charger may have been dead at that time.

I have 2 other ICE powered carts that I use on the property so I was not as concerned as I should have been.

I have continuity between the charge plug terminals and the battery pack.

After almost 2 days of being isolated from the cart and each other, each battery reads 12.94v - exactly.

I am going to abide by the Allied recommendations thru tomorrow. Then I will hook everything back up.

Personally, I am thinking this is a charger malfunction. In my less than expert opinion, it just seems that the reduction in SOC percentages would indicate reduced charger performance and now an ultimate failure. Something is making the charger think that the battery pack is full and it will not pass power.

[Pat911]

This began last week when we had a shot of weather with temps under 20F. The SOC on the Allied meter would top out a 66% and not improve. That degraded to a 30% max. That's when I shut the cart down and contacted Allied.

Are you trying to charge at temperatures below 32F? Lithium batteries shouldn’t be charged at or below this temperature and the Allied batteries seem have low temperature charging protection. Are you able to try charging in a warm environment? It may take some time for the batteries to increase in temperature.

[bevelsport]

Originally Posted by Pat911

Are you trying to charge at temperatures below 32F? Lithium batteries shouldn’t be charged at or below this temperature and the Allied batteries seem have low temperature charging protection. Are you able to try charging in a warm environment? It may take some time for the batteries to increase in temperature.

Thanks for you comments.
The 20F situation is gone. We have been back up above 50F and above for a week. (Including the beginning of this troubleshooting exercise.) I have had this setup (36V lead acid to 48V Li) for over a year and have had cold snaps without any incident.

I am aware of the possible issues with low temp charging. I own a Tesla and a Chevy Volt - as you know, both have protected environments for their batteries.

As of today, I am not seeing any battery related trouble spots. Voltages are consistent, balanced, and the cart had no performance issues at all. It appears as time goes on that the charger is what may be giving me heartburn.

[CP241]

I do agree it does sound like the charger may be at fault. What charger are you using?

[bevelsport]

Originally Posted by CP241

I do agree it does sound like the charger may be at fault. What charger are you using?

It is the Allied CC 48v15a unit. I just checked the output voltage on it and is right at 58v unloaded and the green LED is on. I am itching to put everything back together and check it out.

Tomorrow is another day.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by bevelsport

It is the Allied CC 48v15a unit. I just checked the output voltage on it and is right at 58v unloaded and the green LED is on. I am itching to put everything back together and check it out.

Tomorrow is another day.

Curious is it the newer style silver one with the big heat syncs? Or the older square black one that looks like a pretty generic Chinese charger you see all over Amazon/eBay for like 100 bucks.

Mine is the older black one and I haven’t had any issues with it, though I’m not overly confident in its longevity either. The newer style ones look much more robust

[bevelsport]

Yup, the same one.

I'm itching to get it back together.