EZGO Battery Charger Shuts Off Before Full Charge

Yeah, I remembered that from my microwave oven project (bad magnetron).

So does anyone know if I can hook this thing up without the varistor? The thread I found on another board said "you don't need that" but they wouldn't have put it on there if it wasn't needed, but then another poster said the charger would work without it, but it would be more suceptable to power surges etc.
 
I would go to any RadioShack or other electronic store and buy the MOV. They're only about a dollar or two. The charger will work without it but if there's any power surges it may be the last time it works. :twocents:
 
I was going to order one online, but I'll get one at Radio Shack. I'm going to TRY the charger tonight and see if it works. If it does I'll unplug it and get the MOV before I hook it back up. I'm pretty much done using the cart until spring, but didn't want the batteries to drain down over the winter.

Thanks for all of the help!
 
Still doing the same thing. I plugged it in, clicked on for a second or two, then clicked back off. Did that 4-5 times and it clicked on and stayed on. I've had the cart on trickle charge for a couple of days (doing 2 batts at a time with a 12V charger, 2 amp) so the meter on the charger started a little above 10 and was right below 10 when I decided to unplug/ replug the thing in to see if it would restart. Back to the 1-2 seconds on then click off. Couldn't get it to stay on this time around. Wiggled plug around, couldn't get it to click on/ off like I used to be able to do when I DIDN'T have a good connection (which eventually melted my old plug).

The right (inside) terminal on the capacitor where that wire was loose/ had been arcing looks burned and the plastic piece around the lugs is melted. Would a bad capacitor make this thing kick off like that? Anyone have any other ideas, or a way I can check the components on this thing to see what's not working? My hobby is old Jeeps so I know that throwing parts at a problem in the hope of fixing something gets expensive/ frustrating real quick. I have a voltmeter and can use it with direction.
 
Ok, this morning to went out and took the plug/ wire off of our EZGO cart, and wired it onto this Total Charge III, then plugged it into the EZGO cart. Same thing. Clicks on for a second or two then clicks back off again. I swapped capacitors from one charger to the other and no change, so I KNOW it's the charger, and I know it's not the capacitor or the fuse. That leaves the control board, diodes, and the transformer. Anyone have any other ideas on what could be causing this? I'd rather not take it to a repair shop, but I'm guessing that's where we will end up with it.
 
Ok, just to update. I thought with the clicking on/off that it might be the relay on the circuit board. I took the two wires off of that relay and jumped them, and the charger will come on and stay on. I know that it won't cut itself off automatically without the board being hooked up, so my question is, is that relay available separately or do I have to buy another board? Either way at least I know it's not the transformer so that means it's worth fixing.
 
I've heard of guys finding the relay at electronic stores and replacing it only. You'll have to do some searching but you should be able to find the relay.
 
The board is a "red hawk" brand. Came in a box that says for Total Charge 1/3/4. I've got it in the cabinet. Will try it out tomorrow and see how it goes.
 
Plugged it in this morning. Seemed to be working fine. I'll check it again in a bit and make sure it cut off on it's own. If I managed to fix this thing for $40 I'll be really happy. Thanks for all the help.
 
Well, the charger charges, but it doesn't automatically cut itself off. I plugged it in at 8 oclock this AM and it was still charging at noon, but meter showed about 4 amps. At 6 PM it was still showing about 4 amps, and still charging. I unplugged it. The batteries weren't THAT discharged so 10 hours should have been way more than enough. Volt meter on the set showed 38.8 volts when I unplugged the cart.

Now this set of batteries is getting old, so I don't want to immediately say "bad board" but when the charger doesn't cut off, isn't that the usual suspect? :mad:
 
In can take up to 16 hours to charge the pack. The EZGO charger should shut off after 16 hours even if the batteries aren't charged fully if the charger is working correctly. If the batteries haven't had a full charge lately it's very possible it will take longer than 10 hours to charge them.
 
Well, I charged the batts last week with my 12 volt charger (2 at a time, trickle charged for about 12 hours per pair), and haven't discharged them since (drove the cart about 200 yards and back before I plugged the charger in).

From nosing around on the net looks like a bad battery or loose connection MIGHT cause the charger to stay on.

This AM the readings were

6.33 6.27
6.35 6.36
6.33 6.35

Set showed 38.1 this morning.

I checked the connections and the neg wire felt loose on the receptacle (and that wire goes to - on the 6.27 batt)

I think I'll order a new receptacle for it, if for no other reason than I've tightened up the existing one a couple of times now but it doesn't stay tight. I think I plastic piece that holds everything in place might have broken off, because the + side of the plug stays tight.
Something I was thinking I should do before all the problems, so for $20 I think I'll get one just for peace of mind.

I think I might try plugging it in again Saturday morning and check it again at noon and late afternoon. I work 30 min from the course, so can't make it over there during the week except before and after work. Don't want to let it go that long if the batts are being overcharged.

I won't be using this cart until spring, but I don't want to have to babysit it all winter to keep the batts from discharging.

Anything else I should check?

Thanks!
 
OK, put a new receptacle on the cart yesterday. Plugged it in and it ran all night and was still going this am, so I took the newer set of batts off of my other cart (which is getting along fine with a total charge 1 charger), put them on this cart, put new cables on the batts, and hooked the charger back up. It's running now, and I'll check it in a few hours and see if it cuts off.

My question is would there be anything besides the board that could keep that charger from cutting off? Isn't the timer/ voltage sensor in the board? The thing is charging, the capacitor is good, new board, but it just doesn't seem to want to shut off. What are the chances I got a bad board and would that cause this problem?
 
Try using the cart a little then plug the charger in and let it charge until the batteries are charged or 16 hours whichever comes first. If the charger is still running after 16 hours the timer board is bad.
 
OK. I'll try that this week. Darn thing is driving me crazy. I'm spending all this time trying to fix the automatic charger so I don't have to go out there all through the winter/ remember to start the manual charger up.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
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