83.2V after 3 hours.
I believe your batteries are automotive starting batteries. Not Marine deep cycle. Check out the specs.
Note: The GEM CAR Has an acceptable operating range from 86 volts to 68 volts.
If you unplug your charger at the time its about to shut off you will get a 16 code (high Voltage) You have to turn on the lights to bleed off the surface charge. When you get to 68 volts the car will slow down and you will get a 15 code (low Voltage)
It’s not hard to understand that if you start out with only 72 volts it won’t take long to get a code 15.
A fully charged 72 volt battery pack is 76.2 to 76,8 volts. You have to leave it on the properly operating charger for up to 8+ hours to be assured you have a full charge.
One bad battery will destroy the performance of the pack. My volt meter has clips. I clip to 1 battery at a time and accelerate. A good battery will dip less than a volt. A bad battery will dip 2 or more volts. In my mind this is the quickest and most dependable way to check a pack of batteries.
I let it charge over night and it showed 76.2 V in the morning with the green LED on and the charger off. All of the batteries were showing just over 12V. OH, thanks for the tip on finding a weak battery.
So I didn’t use the GEM for 2 days. When I went to use it the meter showed 70%. I drove no more than 2 miles and it was down to 56%. wth?
Todd, I’m having similar problems with my 2002 E825 with Odyssey PC1700 batteries and a Zivan NG1 charge with the battery type dial selector. The batteries will charge to an ave. 12.7 when charged individually with my car charger. They held the charge for 18 hours with battery circuit turned off. With switch turned on and voltage measured across +/- terminals on top of charger the reading was only 72 volts. Using the Zivan charger, the voltage actually dropped! I have the manual Old Houseboater was kind enough to supply and will run the complete check provided in the manual. I hope to find:
1- Is the charger working but something else is draining the batteries?
2- Are the batteries the problem? They tested ok with resistance type tester.
3- What is causing drain? Is it the charger or something causing the charger to malfunction.
4- Is it time to take this POS to some one wh i knows what they are doing.
I’m already into this thing over $3500 including a new windshield and don’t want to put much more into it given that, at this point, it doesn’t handle hills very well at all. I live in a small mountain town with lots of hills. My little 36 volt EZGO was good for many trips to and from town and this thing has yet to get up my drive under its own power when fully charged with my automotive charger charging each battery individually.
I will post the results of my per the manual complete diagnosis as it seems the problems I am having are common. At this point, I’m wondering what percentage of these things actually perform as designed. What we see on forums are problem, of course, and it seems these are numerous.
Yeah this is frustrating. I haven’t checked each battery yet here like you guys, I need to. Too much other stuff going on. Mine sat for a few days and it was down to 75 percent again. I charged it up, drove it about 2 miles and it’s down to 65 percent. Going to run tests this week. I’ve already tested shutting the main off and the batteries were still dropping charge so I’m just leaving the main on now.
Yeah, I hear ya on dropping more money into these cars. I don’t have that much in mine. They sure don’t handle like a real car, with this buggy type suspension. You need real smooth roads. The narrow wheel base, narrow footprint and no weight don’t help either.
I’ve considered selling mine just because of having to deal with the batteries which are a considerable cost consideration on these even with the cheaper deep cycles. But for some reason I can’t bring myself to do it yet. I haven’t had mine that long yet though so maybe I’ll loose interest. One thing that I like is you don’t see too many of these, actually I haven’t seen another one yet driving around and you get lots of likes.
I filled up our Expedition the other day and it came out to around 10 miles per gallon in city. So the Gem is nice to have if I’m just going somewhere by myself rather than taking a gas hog.
My opinion only. After reading this and other forums for years. The GEM car was designed for Only two types and makes of batteries. Flooded or Gel Trojan, and Deka made Gel batteries. That is what was designed and delivered in Gem cars. All of these attempts to go cheap just don’t work. Now that said all batteries can go bad and some can be bad from new. A battery can work great one day and be shorted the next day because something is always going on inside even if they are sitting. When Gem cars are sitting with the master switch on, they are bleeding power. This becomes more evident as the battery gets older. The more times you recharge a battery the more it wears out. If you use cheaper batteries or the wrong batteries the quicker they wear out. Every car will be different. Some of us are fat. This car is susceptible to weight. It is susceptible to hills. If you put a bigger motor into a Gem, the car will use up the charge quicker. If you don’t have the battery charger set to the proper setting for the batteries installed it will not charge them properly and they will wear out quickly. Marine batteries are cheaper and not the proper type to be installed in any Gem. Gems don’t float! They are only made to go 25mph. They also will go well under a range of 30 miles. I am very very fat. Now you will hear everyone else’s Opinions. But I am still fat!
After setting for another 2 days, I checked the individual batteries this morning. All where consistently 12.17 – 12.37, the GEM meter still shows 56%. I plugged the onboard charger in and left it all day. When I returned to check on it, the green LED was on and the meter showed 95%. I unplugged the charger and opened the master disconnect switch. I will let it set over night and use it tomorrow.
When checking my gel batteries the only difference between any of the batteries is .01 to .03 volts. I had one bad battery and it was .05 volts different. My bet is whatever problems you are having, that part or all of the problem is you have at least one or more bad batteries. Again I am still fat! Are you? That could also be a problem but maybe not with the Gem. Lol! You do need to check each individual battery while you are driving the car and see if at least one is dropping off very quickly. You also should check the individual batteries voltage after you drive the car. If you find one battery much lower than most of them it or they are probably bad. A huge part of the problems in Gem cars can be related to bad batteries. OK, now here come the haters. My opinion is most of the rest of the problems that you read about on this forum will be found on modified cars. I can’t afford to modify my car much, but some of it is fun. Never sell your car. Just make it better. I love waving at everyone and seeing them smile when I drive by.
[quote=Barry;33213]When checking my gel batteries the only difference between any of the batteries is .01 to .03 volts. I had one bad battery and it was .05 volts different. My bet is whatever problems you are having, that part or all of the problem is you have at least one or more bad batteries. Again I am still fat! Are you? That could also be a problem but maybe not with the Gem. Lol! You do need to check each individual battery while you are driving the car and see if at least one is dropping off very quickly. You also should check the individual batteries voltage after you drive the car. If you find one battery much lower than most of them it or they are probably bad. A huge part of the problems in Gem cars can be related to bad batteries. OK, now here come the haters. My opinion is most of the rest of the problems that you read about on this forum will be found on modified cars. I can’t afford to modify my car much, but some of it is fun. Never sell your car. Just make it better. I love waving at everyone and seeing them
smile when I drive by.[/quote]
I am going to use it tomorrow, and I’ll check the batteries individually after some use. If I have time I will monitor one at a time as I drive it.
I have another question: Just what does the % of charge meter monitor?
Basically Voltage. The control senses voltage and rate of decline while in use. It applies an algorithm that gives a running indication of remaining life. Indicated by a number or indicator bars depending on year of cart.
You and many other people waste tons of time when you can eleminate the uncertainties in less than 15 minutes by checking voltage drop under acceleration or using the Dead brake hold checking method discribed in the manual.
If you would read the manual you would save tons of hours and frustration.
I don’t have a manual.
Email me and I will send you one. rodneyadiehl@aol.com
In the 2008 manual the procedure is in “Electrical 5-20”
[quote=OLD HOUSEBOATER;33218]Basically Voltage. The control senses voltage and rate of decline while in use. It applies an algorithm that gives a running indication of remaining life. Indicated by a number or indicator bars depending on year of cart.
You and many other people waste tons of time when you can eleminate the uncertainties in less than 15 minutes by checking voltage drop under acceleration or using the Dead brake hold checking method discribed in the manual.
If you would read the manual you would save tons of hours and frustration.[/quote]
Thanks for the pdf manual.
I couldn’t find the dead brake hold method in the manual that you sent me.
[quote=Barry;33213]When checking my gel batteries the only difference between any of the batteries is .01 to .03 volts. I had one bad battery and it was .05 volts different. My bet is whatever problems you are having, that part or all of the problem is you have at least one or more bad batteries. Again I am still fat! Are you? That could also be a problem but maybe not with the Gem. Lol! You do need to check each individual battery while you are driving the car and see if at least one is dropping off very quickly. You also should check the individual batteries voltage after you drive the car. If you find one battery much lower than most of them it or they are probably bad. A huge part of the problems in Gem cars can be related to bad batteries. OK, now here come the haters. My opinion is most of the rest of the problems that you read about on this forum will be found on modified cars. I can’t afford to modify my car much, but some of it is fun. Never sell your car. Just make it better. I love waving at everyone and seeing them
smile when I drive by.[/quote]
Barry, I prefer muscular. After charging over night, again, the green LED was on but the BDI showed only 64%. The individual voltages were:
12.54
12.71
12.60
12.62
12.52
12.69
I drove no more that 3 miles and the BDI indicated 56%. the voltages are:
12.36
12.53
12.44
12.45
12.34
12.51
Keep in mind that the batteries are automotive type. I bought it with these in it and am just trying to get the “good” out of them before I have to buy Trojans or Optimas.
I am traveling with the GEM and don’t have a set of alligator test leads with me. I will try to find a set so I can check the voltages as I drive the GEM.
What I see is a battery pack that isn’t charged all of the way because they are the wrong type of batteries for the charger setting. Optimas, HELL no! You will need deep cycle golf cart batteries, flooded or gels. Trojans, or Deka made. There is a radical difference in the starting voltages. Although they drop down with usage at about the same rate there is still a big difference. Are all of the batteries marked with the same date stamp or sticker? If they are different it might indicate who ever put the batteries in the car might have had this same problem. It is just the cheap way of keeping the car going. No matter what is wrong with the car at some time you will have to bite the bullet (what ever that means) and buy the proper batteries. My mom said I was husky just like my Levi 501s. I thought that was neat because I liked Husky dogs. You still should check the voltage while driving or the old houseboaters method.
I know that you all are waiting for my daily report so here it is:
After charging over night the green LED was on and the BDI read 80%, so I performed a equalization charge, according to the Zivan charger manual. Unplugged the charger for 20 seconds and plugged it back in. The red LED comes on and I leave it for 15 minutes or so. When I come back the yellow LED is lite. A half hour goes by and the green LED is on. I unplug it and the BDI shows 100%. Battery voltages are from 12.83 to 12.96. I didn’t use the GEM much today, so I didn’t put it back on the charger.
When this is all said and done he will have replaced 1 or more battery’s.
Anyone out there that wants to cover my bet?
Rodney
I’d bet $1200 to $2000 that you’re right.
This is for you gamblers:
I started with the BDI at 70% (down from 98%, where I left it the day before). I attached my leads to individual batteries one at a time. I noted the voltage before I started moving. Then I subtracted the voltage after it stabilized under full acceleration in turf mode. The results were from .44V to .56V. I didn’t bring my notes into the room with me, so I can’t give you exact numbers, but with a .12 differential across 6 batteries, how do you determine which battery(s) are weak?