Cart won't go!

Hi all
I have not been on in a while due to work, selling my last cart and just not enough hours in a day.I have been given a 90 club car that I think is a resister cart.Being that I have always worked on EZGO's I know nothing about Club Cars much less what a resister cart is.I am in the process of charging the batteries one by one as they are really low.I know it has a problem as the owner told me it would run real slow then it got to where it would not run at all. I have been browsing the resource section for info but could anyone point me to some info that explains how a resister cart works and how to trouble shoot it?I am hoping the problem is simply bad batteries but I don't think I will be that lucky. Thanks
 

dougmcp

New Member
Get the batteries all up to a good charge and break out the voltmeter.
1) Post the voltage figures for each battery.
2) Note the total pack voltage.
3) Take the cart for a drive with the meter attached and note the voltage drop.
4) Post the pack voltage after a drive.
We can get to the resistors after you know everything is running well.
 
Thanks for the info. When I hooked the charger up it came on but did not register anything on the meter so I checked the voltage of each battery and found 2 that were less than 2 volts an the best 5.90 so I am charging them 1 at a time. I know this cart has been sitting since at least the end of last summer. I am assuming the charger did not charge because of the low voltage? Which batteries do I check to get total pack voltage or is ther somewhere else I can hook the meter to. Pardon my dumb questions but I am still not familiar with what is what in this cart .
 
The batteries in this cart are Interstate brand, does anyone know how to read the date code.There is a Y and A stamped on 1 terminal, is this like the Trojans in that it is a date code?They are taking forever to charge.I was hoping to be able to post some voltages by now but I guess I will have to be patient
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and wait.
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HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Interstate batteries should have a code branded on the top/side of the battery. I forget their exact coding but post the numbers and we'll find out.
 
When you say top or side is that in the plastic part of the battery? I'll look when I get home and let you know what I find.
 
I finally had a chance to get the battery codes. They are as follows
Interstate brand
1. 66 D
2. A39
3. A15
4,5,6. 16 D
I am still charging the batteries 1 at a time but have got enough charge to get it to move under its own power.I still can not get the charger to come on,it just hums. After charging the 3 lowest battery's I got a total pack voltage of 28. I am hoping it is still too low for the charger to come on.On a 36 volt what would be a low point that the charger would not come on?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
At 28 volts you're close to having enough for the carts charger to work. How many amps is the charger your using to charge them individually? I have a feeling you may need new batteries.
 

dougmcp

New Member
I agree, if they are taking that long to come up, chances are they are a goner.
You can confirm with a hydrometer test after charging and resting overnight.
 
I too think the issue may be the batteries. I am using the 6 volt 12 amp setting on my other charger. It has a setting that will "test" the battery before it starts the charge and will abort it if it detects a problem. So far out of the 3 I have charged only 1 has completely finished the cycle the other 2 were appx 90% finished when the charger shut off but had a 6.25 & 6.30 voltage reading. I have a friend that has a CC with the same Lestronic charger and I am going to borrow it and see if it will charge them just to see if the problem is my charger or not.The 2 lowest batteries took 24 hrs. to charge and may be the reason the charger shut off before finishing.I'll check with a hydrometer to be sure.
 
Well, I finally got the batteries charged and was able to take it for a short ride. I was pretty slow going up hill but it seemed to function properly.I have sent the charger out to be checked and repaired if necessary.Thereare only 3 batteries that seem to be ok so it looks like a set of batteries is next.One last question is what is this 90 model worth (standard cart no extras)?With a set of batteries and repair to the charger I could have about $800 in it.
 

dougmcp

New Member
The body style on this cart has been the same since 1982.
IMO, a good looking stock condition Club Car with new batteries should fetch between $1500 and $2000.
The cheapest good batteries I've found are at Sam's Club, $72 for the 6v and $78 for the 8V.
 
Sounds like I may can sell this and come out ok since all I will have in it is what it cost to repair it.Thanks for the info
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Just wanted to update my progress. I had a bad charger and the batteries had completely discharged. I charger the batteries one at a time while the charger was being repaired. I got the charger back today and ran it through a cycle and all seems ok. I know the batteries have some age on them so they will need replacing soon. I am going to drive it some the next couple of weeks and see how they hold up. Thanks for the help.
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