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Old 10-19-2018, 04:11 PM   #1
farmbuggyfr
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Default Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Hello,

I am using a 48v 2003 DS IQ club car on my farm in France, it is second hand and I already had lots of problems with it (had to make a new frame made in iron because aluminium was beyond repair, exchanged the "wear" parts in the charger and motor), but still like it. Now the OBC seems to have a problem and I have the options to buy a new OBC or spend slightly more for e.g. a Lester Summit II charger.
Is there a general view which option is best? I guess getting the charger (lifeexpectancy maybe different onboard / offboard if used in uneven terrain?) would be a bit more troublefree and maybe better for the batteries...

Thanks for the great info on the site and mabye you could give me your opinion on that question.

Michael
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Old 10-19-2018, 08:29 PM   #2
WalterM6
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

I think most people on this site would say "Replace the Club Car OBC with a smart charger". The OBC is a 20 year old brute force charger.
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Old 10-19-2018, 11:21 PM   #3
ThreeCW
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

I too would suggest going the smart charger route. I bought a Lester Summit 1050 watt charger last year before they came out their recent Bluetooth models. My charger has the "charging and termination algorithms including the progressive DV/DT which prevents both undercharging and overcharging, optimizing both daily battery capacity and overall battery life" (according to Lester anyway). My charger also has the storage mode when you keep the charger connected, it will apply a periodic charge (every two weeks I believe).

Unless you often need to charge your cart at several different locations, I would suggest not pounding a built in charger around your farm and go with an Off Board charger. We can cover a lot of rough ground with our cart and not having a built in charger is one less thing to break.

If I had to do it again, I really like the idea of Bluetooth to download your actual charge profiles. I would also purchase a charger that has an actual "Float" mode which keeps your batteries an a slightly elevated full state of charge. An "Equalization" charge option would also be an important feature to have for that once a month equalization (which I can do using my old charger).

I hope this gives you a few more things to consider with respect to chargers.
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Old 10-19-2018, 11:23 PM   #4
NoleFan4Ever
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Yeah, the OBC's were good and served us all very well. They are still good, until you compare them to a smart charger. The one you reference is a high frequency charger and is far and clear much better all the way around then an OBC is.....
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Old 10-20-2018, 12:22 AM   #5
Mooncarter
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

I vote the same. Ditch the OBC and just get a new charger. I will be doing the same thing soon. Not because the OBC is bad, but I bought the cart without a charger.

Just makes sense if I have the choice. Plus, one less thing to worry about or go bad.
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Old 10-20-2018, 04:25 AM   #6
farmbuggyfr
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Thank you very much for your comments, following the suggestions I ordered the Lester Summit II charger with plug and will just connect the negative outlet to the main battery negative as I read in one of the OBC threads.
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Old 10-20-2018, 09:31 AM   #7
NoleFan4Ever
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Quote:
Originally Posted by farmbuggyfr View Post
Thank you very much for your comments, following the suggestions I ordered the Lester Summit II charger with plug and will just connect the negative outlet to the main battery negative as I read in one of the OBC threads.
You have to do a little more than just that as that is an IQ cart with a Logic Controller. It has a lockout and you want to make sure you fully bypass it so it is not able to lock you out down the road if it further fails. Take the gray sense wire and unplug it and roll that portion up back to the charge receptacle and ty-wrap it off (this is just for clean-up). Then look on the harness side of your OBC 6-pin connector and you will see a white wire and a blue wire. You need to cut and splice these together or install an insulated metal/wire jumper between the 2 wires at the connector. Then with the black wire from the back of the charge receptacle being ran to the Main Pack Neg, you will have completely bypassed the OBC and could actually remove it if you so chose too.
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Old 10-20-2018, 12:11 PM   #8
farmbuggyfr
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Fantastic info, thank you very much. I admit I decided to prefer the easiest sounding solution ;)

Ps. I read the sticky "bypassing-club-car-iq-excel-obc" (I can't post links) and if your answer was included somewhere near the first post which for me seemed to be a response to a detailed question which was not provided, it might clear up some confusion for other beginners, too.
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Old 10-20-2018, 04:18 PM   #9
NoleFan4Ever
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

That sticky started out and was added to and added to and more questions asked then answered, etc. etc. Most importantly a lot of bypassing was first discussed for "testing" purposes and later on came permanent bypass information. There is a way to bypass IQ's, another for Series, and another for Regen I's....
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Old 10-20-2018, 04:37 PM   #10
dundeebarnbuggy
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Default Re: Buy new OBC or independent charger (Lester Summit II)?

Welcome. What kind of farm do you run? Would love to see some pics of your work cart!
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