I purchased a Gem, I think it is a 1999, but the label is so worn and cracked I can’t be sure, and the previous owner plugged 220v into the charger port below the passenger seat. Everything worked perfectly fine before that. Currently, everything still works fine except the charging. When this battery charge runs out, I’ll have to resort to individual battery charging.
I purchased a replacement Zivan NG1 charger on eBay. The seller said it was tested and working. I installed the charger and it exhibits the exact same behavior. I have no wiring diagrams to help troubleshoot. Is there a fuse between the receptacle and the charger? Could it be something as simple as that? A solenoid? A relay? It doesn’t seem to output 72v on the bench, but I would assume there is a voltage check watchdog. No battery voltage, no output.
The charger connects directly to the battery pack. I would test for pack voltage at the two wires that enter the charger from the pack. Use cation because 72v can shock you. Test with a volt meter , fingers off the metal part of the test leads.
Post pictures if you are confused of where to test.
If there is no pack voltage at the charger output wires follow the wires to the pack.
I appreciate the response, but I thought it made it clear that everything is working fine. The cart has 72v, it drives around, but I have no way to charge the batteries once they deplete. I know the pack has ~72v.
What I’m looking for is a method to test the functionality of the charger on the bench (or otherwise). There are three groups of connections on the charger… the output to the pack, two spade connectors for something unknown (sensor?) and a DIN plug for various sensing and alert lines presumably. There must be a signal to/from something to tell the cart to start charging. There must be a way to simulate that signal. I assume it is one of the pins in the DIN plug. If I could short or feed 12v to that signal, it would tell me if the charger(s) are not functional.
To bench test hook the charger to a 72v pack and plug it in to 120vac. All other pins go to dash indicator and ignition interlock. The Zivan chargers work without any else connected.
In fact the charger should give an error tone if you just plug it into 120vac without a 72v pack present
Both chargers appear to do nothing when plugged in on the bench. No lights, sounds or tones. The original charger worked great until the previous owner plugged it into 220v. The charger from eBay was sold as tested and working.
If I plug the charger into the battery pack, then I don’t know if the 72v on the charger pins is the charger output or back feed from the battery pack.
If you plug in 220v to the receptacle under the seat, the first thing it encounters is the charger. I assume that would take the damaging hit. Maybe the eBay charger is also dead and I got ripped on that.
There is a Zivan Repair center in Sacramento. I had one repaired a few years ago. I was satisfied with the experience.
You could open and check for blown fuses.
I guess I start tearing the known bad one apart. I’ll leave the eBay one alone until I get better acquainted with the units. I might be able to return the eBay one if I determine it’s bad… preferably without opening it.