36 volt Charger / Explain amperage

[mwaldenm]

I have a 36 volt 21 amp Lester charger (model 13800 for my Club Car). The charger is not working and the local dealer/service company I took it to wanted $400 to replace this old charger. While looking at chargers on-line I have seen much more economical chargers but with much less amperage.
Please share pro's or con's regarding use of a 36 volt (5, 6, 8, 12, 18 amp) vs. using a 36 volt 21amp.

Is it just a matter of charging time that fluctuates with the amount of amps available?

Would I be able to get one cheaper (with less amps) and still be happy with it?

[MudHog]

Give George at Lester Technical Support a call, 1 402 441 3720 ext. 273 direct. George can help you troubleshoot and then sell a new charger from them for half the price. Did the local place tell you what was wrong with yours? I have an old Accu-Power at home for parts (timer board is bad), but I had called Lester and did some troubleshooting with George. In the end my timerboard was bad and ended up buying a new charger for $250ish.

The higher the amperage the faster the charge, but these chargers start high and lower themselves as the charge progresses. So a 21A charger will start charging at 21A initially and then start to tail off to 5A as the charge cycle progresses.

[scottyb]

Deep cycle wet cell batteries have very specific charging needs. They require a specific pattern or algorithm of amperage input to properly recharge and maintain their useful life.
A good rule of thumb is to use a charger that can supply 10% of the AH rating during the initial or bulk replenishing phase.
The low amperage chargers are not for use with golf cart batteries.

[mwaldenm]

OK. Thanks for the info.

[mwaldenm]

Thanks MudHog. I'll give George a call. The place I took it to said that it was the "controller" & the "resistor". After looking at the schematics of my charger the parts that could go bad are the capacitor, diode, relay, timer panel, transformer or fuse. Asked for a clarification of controller or resistor last week & have not heard back from them. They got their hour labor charge out of me.

[MudHog]

George can step you through the troubleshooting steps. He will check the relay and then check the timer. You will need a DVM (Digital Volt Meter) to do the troubleshooting. He is a little difficult to get ahold of, but keep trying him over leaving a voicemail. He gets many calls and has little time to check his voicemail.