Extreme Team Battery Troubleshooting

[PKViking30]

I like so many others already have and eventually will, appear to have fallen victim to this business's poorly manufactured and shoddy product. I've reached out via email as their webpage states for warranty support. I've gotten no response at all. Just so disappointing when choosing to pay upfront to make the conversion from SLA battery to Lithium and have this happen. The whole reason I made the investment was to get away from battery maintenance and support issues with SLA's yet here I am.

Anyway, what's done is done and I'm left troubleshooting this battery. I'm hoping that for anyone in the same boat, we can document and troubleshoot our issues together to hopefully salvage some usage out of them and help others. Perhaps anyone else with expertise is willing to chime in as well.

My Info

• 2016 Club Car Precedent "JE"
• Stock Motor/controller
• 48v 100ah ExtremeTeam sealed battery pack with shunt
• Onboard 58.4v ExtremeTeam charger

Issue

Battery no longer charging

Symptom

When plugging in to charge, the onboard charger clicks on after a couple of seconds and then almost immediately off. You can briefly see a green LED that changes to red/orange before shutting off. The charger fan spins for a second and then shuts off also at this time.

Troubleshooting performed

• Connected to the battery pack/bms via bluetooth and the phone app. I see no alarms or issues with the string or cells. (See screenshots)
• Verified 20amps with a meter from GFCI outlet being utilized
• Inspected 12guage 20amp cord for any signs of damage
• Inspected internal wiring of 48v club car 3 pin charge plug for signs of damage and verified amp from pins.
• Disconnected hardwired onboard charger from battery to verify output was 58.3v and it does not click on/off like when connected
• Reconnected charger but disconnected shunt; same symptoms of charger clicking on/off repeatedly
• Disconnected motor wiring and reconnected the charger but the same symptoms again.

Current Status

The battery sits at 38% SOC and remains unable to charge.

I guess I'm left to disconnect and fully remove the battery box to open & "void the warranty" to fully inspect the internals . My research here and facebook (yuck), leads me to believe there is some issue with the BMS.

[augiedoggy]

unfortunately your pictures are extremely small thumbnails so I cant make out what the bms is saying.

[jasonojordan]

I would lean towards a bad charger. I could look at replacing it with a unit like this.

https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-batte...ger-48v-18a-1/

[PKViking30]

@augiedoggy apologies, on my PC they are full-size screenshots from my phone, not sure why the upload would miniaturize them. I'll try again from elsewhere:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/00fc...-1dsNQHTcnZ4KA

@jasonojordan thanks for the link, I was thinking the same at the start but found it odd when disconnected it seems to be outputting the proper voltage. I guess something internally could still be an issue. I guess its worth purchasing & trying before digging in so thank you.

[jasonojordan]

Originally Posted by PKViking30

@augiedoggy apologies, on my PC they are full-size screenshots from my phone, not sure why the upload would miniaturize them. I'll try again from elsewhere:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/00fc...-1dsNQHTcnZ4KA

@jasonojordan thanks for the link, I was thinking the same at the start but found it odd when disconnected it seems to be outputting the proper voltage. I guess something internally could still be an issue. I guess its worth purchasing & trying before digging in so thank you.

Maybe I missed something but when I was reading it you indicated that you could connect to the battery bms and battery was working fine other then can't charge? Did I miss something?

[augiedoggy]

Nothing seems out of the ordinary or alarming about the BMS photos. There aren't even any faults being recorded. Cell balance looks good too

[augiedoggy]

Poor troubleshooting purposes only if you have a regular lead acid battery charger for 48 V. You could try it for just a minute or so and see if the battery accepts a charge.

[Pat911]

Originally Posted by PKViking30

[*]Verified 20amps with a meter from GFCI outlet being utilized

Can you explain this please. Are you saying that your charger is pulling 20A from the 110v receptacle or that 110v is available from the receptacle?

Are you able to provide screen shots of the BMS app with the charger connected.
Are you able to measure the current and voltage OUTPUT of the charger with it connected to the battery.

Surely sounds like a faulty charger to me. Sounds like the end of charge detection in the charger has failed. So charger can supply the voltage ok but as soon as any current starts flowing it shuts down, assuming charging has finished.

Augiedoggy’s suggestion of trying a different charger is useful, but don’t use a lead acid charger to fully charge the battery.

[PKViking30]

Originally Posted by jasonojordan

Maybe I missed something but when I was reading it you indicated that you could connect to the battery bms and battery was working fine other then can't charge? Did I miss something?

No you're didn't. The battery seems okay by all perceivable standards, just not charging.

I just thought that by my troubleshooting steps the charger was good as I see it outputting correctly when not connected. Being sealed I can't inspect the charger but obviously the internal electronics could be having an issue.

I looked at the linked replacement charger and its manual. Not too much there but does point to some additional points of failure.

Manual excerpt:

Common Fault Solutions
● Battery Abnormal
○ Output Short Circuit: Check wire output to verify there is no short circuit
○ No Battery/Reverse Polarity: Check battery connection is secure and correct
○ Battery Low Voltage: Ensure battery voltage is above minimum required for charger
○ Battery Overheat: Ensure proper ventilation and that you are within operating range
● Source Electric Anomaly
○ Error Input Voltage: Verify input voltage is in the correct range for charger
○ Thin Input Wire Line: Ensure input wire line is of correct size
● Charger Abnormal
○ Charger Overheat: Verify proper ventilation and allow charger to cool before continued use

[PKViking30]

@augiedoggy Thanks for the idea! I do have my old spare OEM charger. Might be worth a shot. I believe I read somewhere they can be reprogrammed to a new profile, perhaps they have one for lithium now?

@Pat911 I meant the later. It's a 20amp circuit and seeing 110v(120v) correctly from that point.

As for screenshots with the charger connected there's no difference between what I linked already.

I checked when the charger's connected to the battery but I'm getting the battery-provided voltage output with no change/jump when it's plugged in attempting to charge.

Yes, dully noted. I would not use SLA charger instead to fully charge. Thank you.