1.5 Year Old Gel Batteries Already Dead

GEM Forum
1

So, I have a bit of a head scratcher here.

2005 GEM e4
Has an aftermarket R4F Motor and Rebuilt Controller

In February of 2015, we replaced all 6 original gel cell batteries with 6 new Gel Cel Batteries from Napa (BAT 8272)

GEM ran great and had a lot more pep after this replacement, however then the controller burnt up.

Rebuilt the controller again, and replaced a few of the cables that felt warm to me after running, one on the controller to the motor (the rusted one in the pic), and one on the battery string to the fuse.

GEM ran great again.

Has the original Delta Q charger in it, and we kept it plugged in as much as possible. After the birth of my first son, it was left unplugged for about two months and then returned to the charger.

Wife took it to work the other day, and less than a mile from the house she had poor acceleration, and the yellow turtle came up on the dash despite showing a full battery gauge.

I picked up the car and tried to get it home, but eventually it failed and threw error code 15, showing low battery voltage.

Got it home, and checked the individual batteries. A few were 10v, and most were in the 11-12v range.

Charged the cells individually with an off-board charger and then plugged it back in to charge via the Delta Q.

Next day, took the car off the charger and drove it a short distance and all the same symptoms appeared. Took it back home and checked the batts, again a few were already down to 10v and all were in the 11-12v range.

I used my cheapo battery analyzer and it is saying all but one of the batts are No Good.

Used a different off board charger on “reconditioning mode” let it sit for an hour after charging, and retested. Analyzer still showing the batts are No Good.

The Napa batteries are said to have a 24month warranty, but I am guessing that there is something else going on here. Would appreciate any insight. The last thing I want to do is burn up another set of batteries at over $1.5k!

2

Your having the same problem I had.Bought brand new gem at a local dealer.Car was 2 years at dealer.They left car outside winter and summer. When I bought car they had to replace batteries.They installed AGM type batteries They left algo set to gels.When algo is not set to the type of batteries you have you may get 1 to 2 years. First advice don’t use gem dealers unless warranty work. Find a golf cart shop near you that have mech that know about gem cars.You can get a lot of good info in this forum. I bought a 72 volt desulfator and have it installed about six months my voltage has incressed and my mileage also. I tried to get the algo set to AGM but again dealer could not handle it. Your batteries you have should respond to a desulfator.

3

Desulfinators don’t do much good on Gel’s’

You might try the equalizer algorithm 4 or 5 times on your Gels

4

[quote=OLD HOUSEBOATER;31858]Desulfinators don’t do much good on Gel’s’

You might try the equalizer algorithm 4 or 5 times on your Gels[/quote]

I assume this is a setting on the Delta Q? Any idea what number it is, I will start digging for the info :slight_smile:

5

It’s in there - don’t know what #

Rodney

6

Thank you Rodney!

For those looking for the algos, I came across this on Delta Q’s Website
https://deltaq.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/5000636097-algorithms-for-gem-car-charger

A0013 SW Var: N/A
13 GEM Trojan dv/dt
14 GEM DEKA 8G31 gel dv/dt
15 GEM DEKA 8G31 gel recovery
24 GEM DEKA high capacity gel dv/dt
25 GEM DEKA high capacity gel recovery
32 DEKA EV31 dv/dt

Rodney, I assume you mean 25, the high capacity gel recovery?

7

It looks like you have the standard capacity Gels so your looking at 15.

Since your battery’s need love i would repeat the process 3 to 5 times as soon as it finishes.

NOTE. you will have to reset to 15 after each cycle because the charger automatically returns to the charge setting after doing an equalization cycle.

I have never seen the #25 and didn’t know it existed. If you can monitor the heat of the battery pack while charging go for it.

Were all learning on your nickle - keep us in the loop.

Rodney

8

If you have a 2 year warrenty RUN, don’t walk down to your dealer and swap these puppys out.NOW.

1 Like
9

Says 24 month online, so I am guessing I can at least get something for them.

Followed the instructions here: https://youtu.be/FtxZoUmn6l8?list=PLDekpNhfRMxz2lwmq9kw9ZlhzoqyAcg_B

States to disconnect the AC Power, disconnect the positive terminal, and then reconnect. I disconnected the lead from the charger heading to the panel underneath the dash, and now I just get the fault light on the charger (2 flashes) indicating no battery connected (duh) or low voltage.

Can’t seem to get it to display the charge profile.

10

Welcome to the wonderful world of reprogramming a DQ. Took me 3 years to get the Touch. Grant West (Gwest) seems to have it down. Give him a PM.

1 Like
11

Here is a link to the video of what it does when I have the positive lead disconnected.

https://goo.gl/photos/XjoAWEEZbnUAeYkt8

12

Thanks Rodney, I gave him a PM

I’ll keep repeating the process to see if I get somewhere…

13

So still no word from Gwest. I am still scratching my head on this one and before I send it in for service would appreciate any ideas.

14

Unplug the charger and disconnect the positive lead. when you plug in the charger with the lead disconnected the charger will flash the current program code for 11 seconds then go to Red.

                                                                           TO   PROGRAM

  1. unplug the charger for 15 seconds

  2. plug in the charger and touch the positive lead for just under 1 second (1 second is too long 1/2 is too short)

If you did it right the charger will go into program mode this is indicated by the charger continually repeating the current program setting. If you didn’t get it right it will go to red light

UNPLUG AND START OVER

When you finally get into program mode

  1. touch the post for 1-1000 2- 1000 3-1000 - 4 uh (4 seconds is too long 3 is too short

If you were successful it will advance to the next algorithm. WAIT 30 SECONDS (longer is OK) and repeat until you get to where you want to go. If you Red Light

START OVER.

  1. when you get to the Algorithm you want touch the post and hold until you hear the click. (about 10 seconds.)

Your done.

It took me 3 years to learn to program these miserable puppys.

Rodney

1 Like
15

Thank you Old Houseboater…you are my only hope :slight_smile:

Alright, so dumb question, do I disconnect the negative lead as it indicates in the Delta Q instructions?

Here is what I have tried:

Main Breaker ON
Disconnect Negative blade terminal
Disconnect Positive ring terminal

Plug in Charger
Touch Positive Ring Terminal 1 one thousand LET GO

My process sound okay? I keep getting the red light, but damn I am going to keep trying.

16

don’t know where you came up with that one.

Just disconnect the positive lead (ONLY) from your charger. Be in a position where you can touch and untouch the this lead to the post as discribed above.

Where the charger is under the cart I run temporary wires i can touch while I watch the lights. Main switch is on at all times.

It’s not going to bite you. If your sloppy it will red light. START OVER.

Be in a comfortable position, this takes about 5 minutes if you do it right. I have NEVER gotten it the first time. Just getting it into the program mode is a big hurdle to get past…

1 Like
17

Good idea on the jumper wires. Connected some up so I could watch exactly when the lights started the LED test scan pattern.

After a few tries, I got it to do something different…but I don’t think it is right. I’m going to keep trying.

Here is a video: https://goo.gl/photos/WfvXoQJp8mfmfGKk7

I got it to not red light, but the 50% light blinked 6 times over and over and the 100% current level indicator flashed a single flash over and over.

18

Keep trying - getting past the red light is progress.

19

[quote=EOppegaard;31872]Here is a link to the video of what it does when I have the positive lead disconnected.

https://goo.gl/photos/XjoAWEEZbnUAeYkt8[/quote]

Just notice that you’ve had a problem for 2 months?
Is it just changing profiles? I didn’t read all.

Some DQ don’t have additional profiles. All Gems are supposed to.

If it’s just a profile change, I have the kit that makes it easy. It also shows what profiles are loaded.

I will loan with deposit to anyone who has the time for shipping both ways.

Goes for you too Rodney. Next time I send you something. I know you hate them! :eek:

20

Hey Inwo,

In a nutshell, my GEL batteries seem to have been cooked after only 1.5 months. Before I go out and try to get what’s left of the pro-rata warranty on them I wanted to ensure the charge profile was right on the Delta Q. Don’t really even need to change it if it is correct.

I am going to keep swearing and touching the lead for a while, but I may actually take you up on your offer.

[quote=Inwo;33034]Just notice that you’ve had a problem for 2 months?
Is it just changing profiles? I didn’t read all.

Some DQ don’t have additional profiles. All Gems are supposed to.

If it’s just a profile change, I have the kit that makes it easy. It also shows what profiles are loaded.

I will loan with deposit to anyone who has the time for shipping both ways.

Goes for you too Rodney. Next time I send you something. I know you hate them! :eek:[/quote]