EZGO Battery Charger Shuts Off Before Full Charge

jeepwm69

Member
Got an automatic EZGO battery charger that I'm trying to hook up to a Cushman GC400. I wired the crows foot plug onto the charger, and the wires on the recepticle are going straight to the + and - posts on the battery (like they do on an EZGO). When I plug the charger in, it begins to charge, and the meter jumps up to where it should for discharged batteries (20-25 amps), but I noticed that the cart didn't have a full charge when the charger shuts off. So after using it again I plugged the charger in, and when I went back in about an hour to check it, it had cut itself off. I unplugged, then replugged it in, and the meter jumped back up to 20-25, but again, after an hour or so I went back and the charger was off again. I've stood there for 15 min or so and it stays on. Plug is making good contact/ not overheating. Any ideas?
 

jeepwm69

Member
It's a Total Charge III. Model # is 26984. I unplugged the cart today, then plugged it back in and the meter jumped to 17 amps, then it charged for about 30 seconds and turned off. No heat anywhere that I could feel where it wouldn't be making a good connection. Any ideas?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
You need to do a voltage test on each battery. Make sure the batteries don't need water and all cables are wired positive to negative on the batteries. Post your battery voltages and we'll go from there.
 

jeepwm69

Member
Ok, looks like I might just need new batts. The thing is, I just played 18 holes in this cart and the thing ran fine, but when I plugged it in the charger won't go. I'll probably take a battery off our other cart (newer batteries) and replace the lowest voltage batt and see if the charger will work. If it does I'll probably wait until spring and get a new set. I think this one is on about 5 years IIRC.

Anyhow, voltage (drivers front is top left)

6.08 6.04
6.12 6.13
5.97 6.15

The thing hasn't been charged since I played that 18 holes. The charger still clicks on for about 30-40 seconds and then clicks back off again.

Thanks for any suggestions anyone may have.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
The battery with 5.97 volts is more than likely bad but it's possible it just needs a good charge. Unless one of the batteries is shorted the charger should not shut off in 30-40 seconds with the voltages you posted. I'd lean more toward a bad connection in the charger receptacle or the DC plug on the charger. Try to find another cart to try your charger on.
 

jeepwm69

Member
The old DC plug overheated/ melted. This is the yellow old lester plug. I took the charger receptacle off of the cart and took it apart, cleaned everything, put new ends on the cables going from batts to receptacle, and put it back on. When I wasn't getting a good connection it would have to jiggle the plug to get the charger to cut on. What eventually happened was the connection was bad enough to melt the old plug, so I got a new plug and cleaned up the connections on the receptacle. It feels tight now, immediately cuts on when I plug it in, but then cuts off. The question is, do I roll the dice on a new receptacle or is there something else I should do first? I think I'll swap a known good batt for the <6volt tomorrow and see what it does. If that doesn't work, I'll probably try swapping the receptacle out. The charger is an old crows foot/ cushman style so don't have another cart to try the charger on without swapping the plugs, although it might eventually come to that. I CAN leave only two batts hooked together and use my standard 12V charger and charge them two at a time, right?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Yes you can charge two at a time without unhooking any cables. Just make sure the pairs you hook the 12 volt charger two are connected for 12 volts.
 

jeepwm69

Member
Well, I swapped the 5.97 batt out with a good one off of the other cart. No change. Plugged the charger in, it ran for 3-4 seconds, then clicked off. I drove the cart down to the end of the road and back, and then plugged it in and it ran for about 45 seconds-1 min, then clicked off.
 

divot61

New Member
What is the entire pack voltage? What is the pack voltage under load? You could take an average 12v battery charger, most of them now a days have the 6v option, and charge the batteries individually to full charge and try the 36v charger, the charger will not charge the batteries at i think 32-34v.
 

jeepwm69

Member
37.7 on the pack.
I've got a 12 volt trickle charger on two of the batts tonight, will swap to two more tomorrow AM, and will do the last two starting tomorrow night.
So I've got 37.7 on the connections going into the receptacle, plug the thing in, and now it only clicks on for about 2 seconds and then clicks off.

I brought the charger home with me and will take the cover off tomorrow. Any tests I can run on it?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
The low voltage limit for the 36 volt E-Z-GO is around 28 volts. At that voltage the charger won't turn on at all so that's not your problem.
 

jeepwm69

Member
Well, it was working fine until the plug started cracking (age) and one of the prongs got loose. Then I could plug it in and would have to jiggle it to get it to click on. Eventually I didn't jiggle very well and it got a poor connection that melted the old plug. Got a new/ used Lester plug/ cable in great shape off and wired it directly to the charger (old plug I just spliced onto the wires). Since then I've gotten this short cycle on the charger. Right before the old plug gave up the ghost it would click on and off rapidly while I was jiggling it, and once or twice it stopped working all together, then it was like it reset/ circuit breaker (didn't blow fuse/ have to hit reset on bottom right of charger) and it would work again. Just in case, or does it sound more like the charger? The plug/receptacle seem to have a tight fit, the charger immediately turns on, but then clicks right back off again after a few seconds.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
You would be better of getting the right plug and receptacle and be done with it. Are you sure your splices are making good connections?
 

jeepwm69

Member
No splices now. I bought a yellow lester plug with wire and wired it straight to the charger. Plug feels tight, and is the correct receptacle for the yellow lester plug....

plug is what was on the factory cushman (lester) charger

receptacle is factory Cushman

I had the setup spliced last year. The old plug started falling apart and eventually stopped making a good connection and partially melted, so I replaced it in Sept. Plug is now in good shape and not spliced.
 

jeepwm69

Member
Now that I think about it, I wonder if I wired the plug up wrong? I don't see how I could have with 2 wires, but it worked fine with the old plug (once I got the plug wiggled into the right place). When I replaced the plug, it started this short charging. I'm going to take the cover off of the charger tonight. Anything in particular I should look for? Could the rapid on/off clicking have screwed something up?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
It's possible that there could be a problem caused be the relay kicking in and out but I think a wiring problem is more likely. Let us know what you find.
 

jeepwm69

Member
First off, one of the wires to the capacitor was loose (pulled the end of the wire right out of the female spade end that was supposed to be clamped on the wire). Signs of burning/arcing here. Put a new end on and reattached. Hopefully the capacitor isn't fried.

Also, there is a wire running from the end of the fuse housing to the bottom of the case. Is this a diode or a ground? Looks like just a plain wire with two of the female ends for a spade tip. Very short. This wire was burned in two. Looks like it would be the "MOV 2" in this diagram...

Amazing how similar to the inside of a microwave oven this thing is. Interestingly enough, I bought my voltmeter to troubleshoot a microwave that a Sears tech misdiagnosed.
 

jeepwm69

Member
edited to add....looks like the thing I thought might be a diode was a varistor. Found a thread on another board with a charger like mine with a blown fuse and fried varistor.
I'm guessing (and hoping) that the loose wire on the capacitor and the rapid clicking on/off with the old/bad plug might have fried the varistor. Given that the charger still cuts on for a few seconds and then cuts back off again, I'd say the fuse is still good. I put a new end on the capacitor wire and from the thread above it LOOKS like I can try this thing out without the veristor, although I know I need to get another one to protect the circuitry.

Anyone have any advice? Would a loose wire on the capacitor (or a bad capacitor) cause my symptoms?
 

BadToTheBone

Moderator
Im no expert but my guess would be the loose wire cant be helping matters. Try tightening everything up and see what happens. Be careful working near the capacitor they store a lot of voltage.
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