Charging System Troubleshooting

[lockman1]

Originally Posted by TahoeDawgZ71

Charging System Troubleshooting: (Charger Won't Turn On)

*Use this troubleshooting guide to diagnose charging problems with 48 Volt Club Car vehicles.

*********** 1. The first step would be to make sure the vehicle has enough voltage to trigger the charger turn-on signal from the on-board computer.

• Check the battery voltage of the entire battery pack with a digital volt meter.
• Put the positive lead on the MAIN positive battery post and the negative lead on the MAIN negative battery post.
• Total voltage should be at least 36-38 Volts. If it's not, you must boost the batteries individually. Contact me for further instructions on how to do so.
• If you do not have a digital volt meter you can perform this test by attempting to run the vehicle.
• If the vehicle has enough energy to make the solenoid switch "click" and attempt to run, it also has enough energy to engage the charger relay. This step may be skipped.

*

*********** 2. The next step is to check all wiring, Locate the charger receptacle of the vehicle.

• On the back of the charger receptacle you will see three wires. Red is the positive. Black is the negative. Grey is the On-Board computer control wire.
• Make sure that the red wire is in good shape and follow it all the way to the MAIN positive battery post. Make sure there is a good connection on the battery and ensure that the wire isn't corroded or broken.
  If it is, clean it and re-attempt to charge the vehicle. The black wire is not at risk of corrosion because it is wired directly into the on-board computer.
• As for the grey wire, give it a light pull outward and ensure that isn't broken inside the charger receptacle.
  The grey wire will often break inside the receptacle and will easily pull out the back. If this happens, you must replace the receptacle.

*

*********** 3. If you have a Club Car DS or Carryall vehicle you will have two fuses to check near the charger receptacle.

• One is an inline fuse located on the grey control wire mentioned in step two. It is located inside a yellow rubber fuse holder. Pull the fuse holder apart and check the fuse with your meter to ensure that there is continuity. If the fuse is bad, replace it with a 3/8 amp fuse. anything else will damage the charging system.
• There is also a larger fuse bolted to the back of the charger receptacle. You'll see that there are two black wires bolted to the back of the receptacle. This is where you'll find the fuse.
• On the opposite side you'll see a fuse element inside a plastic window. Check this fuse with a multimeter as well.
• On the continuity setting, place each lead of your multimeter on each of the nuts where the black wires are bolted to the back of the receptacle. If you have continuity, the fuse is good. If you don't, replace the fuse.

*

*********** 4. Check the charger relay. Pull the cover off of the charger and locate the relay.

• On PowerDrive 17930 models you'll find the relay on the bottom floor of the charger at the front.
• On PowerDrive2 22110 models you'll find it bolted to the front wall of the charger above the circuit breaker. Make sure both power cords are unplugged from the charger and pull the blue wire and red wire off of the charger relay.
• If you look closely at the relay you'll notice that there are four posts. Two large posts, and two small posts. These red and blue wires are plugged into the smaller two posts of the relay.
• Once you've gotten them unplugged, set your multimeter to check for DC voltage and insert the leads of the multimeter into the ends of these two wires that you unplugged from the relay.
• Plug the cord into the golf cart. It is not necessary to plug the other cord into the wall. Within 2-10 seconds of plugging the cord into the cart, you should see full battery voltage on the screen of your meter.
• If so, this is an indication that the on-board computer is communicating with the charger and commanding the relay to turn on. If your charger hasn't been "clicking" on, replace the relay.
• If you don't see a change in voltage on your screen when this test is performed, this is an indication that the on-board computer has failed and is no longer able to communicate with the charger. The on-board computer must be replaced.

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Thank you Don. I'd post a chart of common OBC part numbers, but they change every time a new version comes out so I suggest just asking me.

[src7253]

I replaced my batteries and want to know if I should of reset my OBC after putting the new ones in. With the old batteries the charger would stay on till it timed out and I feel like it is still staying on for a long time with the brand new Trojan 8v batteries in. It ran for 14 hours last night charging and was still on when I unplugged it to use it. It is running at lower amps than with the old ones.

[jakesnake27]

What year of cart do you have? Having the batteries disconnected for more than 10 mins will reset the OBC most times...

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Jake is correct about the OBC resetting itself after it's been without power for a while. When you plug the DC Cord into the cart is there a delay before the charger turns on? There should be. If ever there isn't a delay, replace the OBC. Often, when OBCs fail, they get stuck in "ON" mode and the charger turns on immediately when it makes a connection. When this happens, the charger will never turn off.

[src7253]

Ok, not sure about the delay or not. I did not pay attention to that. The cart is a 1998 Club car ds. I put new batteries and an OBC in it about 3 years ago. Since then I did some off roading and took where I shouldn't of. Because of that I have installed a new motor, 500amp controller, heavy duty F/R switch, solenoid, and cables. It is possible the water taken on while playing submarine may have affected my OBC. This might be the cause of toasting my old batteries.

[Sergio]

The first few charging cycles after a successful OBC reset will take longer than normal as the OBC is using a different algorithm in order to establish a baseline for the pack condition.

It is important that You have a single cable on your pack negative and that goes thru the OBC. Any other negative connections (converters, etc...) need to be on the other side of the OBC (controller B- side).

[src7253]

Ok, I have only charged it twice since I put the new batteries in. I have a 6awg wire running through the OBC and a 4awg wire running around it becuase it would not fit through it.

[TahoeDawgZ71]

Originally Posted by src7253

Ok, I have only charged it twice since I put the new batteries in. I have a 6awg wire running through the OBC and a 4awg wire running around it becuase it would not fit through it.

4 AWG wire will fit through the OBC with no issue at all. I put 2 AWG wire through them all the time and it fits snug, but even that will fit. I'm assuming you're trying to put the wire through it with the terminal on it? You've gotta put the wire through the OBC before you crimp the terminal on the end of it. The setup you're running now will confuse the OBC because it can't properly monitor how much energy the cart uses during a charge cycle due to the fact that it has power running around it vs through it. You need to eliminate the 6 gauge wire and put a single negative 4 gauge cable through the OBC in place of it.

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by src7253

Ok, I have only charged it twice since I put the new batteries in. I have a 6awg wire running through the OBC and a 4awg wire running around it because it would not fit through it.

That will kill your batteries and cause the erratic charging problems You are describing.

You need to build a 3-1/2" x 5/16 threaded stud and use 2 cables, one for each side of the OBC.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/attac...g-obc-stud.jpg