Charging question / help

[djhartley2003]

I have a 1994 36 volt EZGO Marathon. I plugged my charger in the other day and heard it click like it always does but the needle never moved and I cant hear the hum like I normally do. I'm not sure if my charger isn't working or if there is something wrong with the cart that wont let it charge. I disconnected the battery pack and tried charging the batteries in pairs (12 volt) to get it charged back up to get the charger to kick on but that didn't seem to do the trick. What should I start checking to figure out my problem. Thanks for any help that you guys can give.

[djhartley2003]

Any one have any suggestions?

[scottyb]

Sorry dj I didn't see this yesterday? Can you check pack voltage before and after you plug the charger in to see if it increases? That will tell you if in fact the charger is putting out. You may just have a bad gauge

[djhartley2003]

I will do that when I get home work. I know its a 36 volt pack but does it actually read that or is a little different?

[djhartley2003]

Got home last night and went to check my battery pack and I realized that my multi meter wasn't working. Went and got a new one and now I know why my battery charger wont turn on. My battery pack voltage is low. I broke the pack out into 12 volt pairs so that I can get them charged back up. Thanks ScottyB. without you asking for the voltage I don't know if I would have realized my multi meter wasn't working.

[scottyb]

Cool. You need to get the pack up to (i dunno) 25 volts for the charger to be able to see it is connected and start charging...... there are a few other tricks but the 12v charger on pairs for a hour each pair should do the trick, then plug in the cart charger. Once the charger turns on you can see if it's putting out by reading the pack voltage. he voltage should steadily raise up to about 44v before it's done...... don't be surprised if it runs for 12-14 hours on a low pack .... and check the water before you start this long charge.......

[djhartley2003]

Good call on the water. Ill do that before I start the charging. Thanks a lot.

[scottyb]

Use this State of Charge Table to determine how much charge you have in them.

[djhartley2003]

Got the battery pack charged back up to the point that my charger turned on and charged the pack. I will check and compare it to the chart and let you know what I have. Thanks a lot for your help.