I just had new Trojan SCS 225 batteries installed in my 2001 GEM 4 passenger. My Delta Q charger doesn’t seem to be working correctly. It flashes green and is charging, but it does not turn off when the batteries are charged and the batteries are boiling over. I noticed that the ground wire that is attached to the frame just above the batteries is not connected on the other end. My questions are:
Where should the ground wire be connected to on the end opposite the car frame?
if the ground wire is not connected, could this cause the Delta Q charger to overcharge the batteries?
I would take the car to a Polaris dealer, but they are 50 miles and a rental trailer away. Any help would be appreciated. Go easy on me since my electrical experience level is very poor.
Thanks gtmo-gem. I wasn’t able to open the link, but I do have a service manual. I read through it and could not find any reference to where the ground wire coming off the body needs to be connected to the electrical. Thanks for your suggestion.
Thanks gtmo-gem. This one opened. This is the version that I have. I am trying my best not to have to rent a trailer and drag this GEM 50 miles to a dealer for service. I am trying to use my very limited knowledge to troubleshoot my issues. My charger is now charging the new batteries but it appears to be over charging and causing the batteries to boil over. I was hoping for a simple solution. Since the ground wire by the batteries is just dangling, I keep thinking that this could be causing the charger issues. Maybe someone will feel sorry for this long time GEM owner and offer up a solution. Thanks for trying to help.
The body ground wire on my 99 goes to a terminal on the DC/DC converter. If it’s not on the lights don’t work and both turn indicator indicator lights come on.
This is puzzling OLD HOUSEBOATER. The wire that I am confused about is attached to the frame under the back seat with a screw. The black wire is about 18-24" long. It isn’t long enough to go much further than the batteries on the side by the on/off switch. It must have been connected to something between the on/off switch and the plug for the charger which is mounted just under the back passenger seat (by the passenger’s leg). I don’t see an obvious place for it to go, but then there are a lot of wires and places where it could have been connected. My lights and turn signals work OK. The only issue that I am having is my Delta Q charger doesn’t seen to stop charging the new batteries that I just had installed. They are the correct Trojan batteries for the car. It may be a problem with the Delta Q charger, but then when I saw the dangling ground wire, I wondered if that could cause the charge to not stop charging. I used to be able to call the GEM techs when I had a question and they were super helpful. Now with Polaris owning them, they won’t let me talk to a tech. The only other option is a site like this or several 1 way trailer rentals and a lot of driving.
I may be slowly narrowing the issues down to 3 separate problems. I have new Trojan SCS225 12V batteries (flooded). Right before I replace them, I ordered an automatic watering system for the old batteries, made by Battery Watering Technology. I had them on the old Trojan SCS 225 batteries for a while but it was winter and I didn’t drive the car much. About 4 weeks ago, I replaced the old batteries with new ones and had them install the same automatic watering system on the new batteries. Yesterday and today, after really looking at the batteries and talking to my local battery distributor and to Battery Watering Technology, it appears that the watering system was filling the batteries way too full. When I charged the car, it caused the batteries to boil over. I kept unplugging it to stop the battery from leaking. I was told that the cells were way too full and I needed to remove some of the liquid from every cell. I did that today and then I removed the automatic watering system and put the original caps back on the batteries. Now the car charged and the solid green light came on showing that it was fully charged. I can’t drive it today because of the rain, but it looks like the charger is working now. The dangling ground wire is still a mystery. I don’t know where it should be attached. Everything else on the car works correctly. I can’t remember the algorithm that the Delta Q is set on, but GEM Techs helped me get it set correctly when I replaced the old charger in 2010. The car worked with the 2010 Delta Q since I replaced it.
Bottom line is; it looks like the charger/battery issue is fixed now. The dangling ground wire is still dangling.
I appreciate you taking the time to help out with some ideas. I think I love my GEM again :).
I sure wish I knew where that ground wire goes. I have looked at all the place where it can reach but there is no obvious place for it. Everything is working great. The whole problem was the wrong size automatic battery fillers. Since I took them off, the charger is charging correctly.
I have been looking at every older GEM picture I can find to see if I can see where that wire goes.
I too have the wire you are referring to. My husband took ours apart to get it painted and when reassembling he couldn’t figure out where it went. If he touches it to the positive side of a battery it makes the head light work. We have looked at a few others and they don’t have this ground wire. If you have figured it out please let me know as we are so confused as to where it would go. Thanks!!!
I’m also trying to figure out where the black wire from the charger connects to! The black and a white come out of the top of the Zivan charger and I found the black just dangling in the front engine/battery compartment of our 2002 GEM e825. I’m also getting an electrical burning smell. Anyone know if it could be related?
is it a small diameter black wire? Have you checked to see if your licence plate light if functional and has 2 wires coming off it? IIRC, one is grounded under the seat and the other isn’t but goes to somewhere.