2000 Club Car DS OBC/Charging Issue

[sealy99]

I recently purchased a 2000 48V Club Car DS that had been sitting in a barn for some time. It had a charger hooked up to it in the barn, which didn't appear to be suitable for a golf cart. The man I purchased it from told me the batteries had been replaced a little over a year prior. There was no charge on the batteries when I purchased the cart.

When I checked the water level on the batteries, the plates were exposed. I filled them with distilled water and it took just shy of 4 gallons of water to fill six batteries.

The charger that he included with the cart would not come on when plugged in. I assumed it was because the voltage on the batteries was so low. I purchased a new Schauer charger, plugged it in, and wah lah, it started charging. 14 hours later, it was still charging and batteries were percolating.

First question: After a full charge, the battery meter on the cart will drop by roughly a third after ten minutes of use. I can get around nine holes on the golf course on about half of a charge. The batteries are reading around 52V after they complete a charge. Is it possible that the batteries are just not accepting a "deep charge" and are damaged from being run so low on water? What is the best way to test this.

Second question: When I plug in the Schauer charger, sometimes it will come on, and sometimes not. I haven't been able to figure out under what circumstances it will and will not charge. My understanding is when the charger is plugged into the cart, the OBC will lock out the drive system on the cart until the charger is removed. It has done this, and other times the cart will still move when the charger is plugged in. I was told that when the OBC fails, it usually fails all at once and is not intermittent. It hasn't worked correctly in 24 hours. I don't think it's in float mode since the battery meter on the cart continues to read 2/3rds of a charge. I tested it tonight by bypassing the OBC with a wire from the neg terminal on battery six directly to the back of the charging port. When I plugged in the charger, it kicked on like it was supposed to. I purchased the cart on a budget anticipating having to buy a charger and batteries, but did not anticipate spending $450 on a new OBC. Is there a reason not to bypass the OBC permanently since I'm using a smart charger?