Just tried to start 2007 e4 after setting all winter. It was plugged in all winter. Bars show a full charge but it wont move and shows error code 15 which I think means low charge but that is not what the bars show. What canI do?
The bars are what the motor-controller thinks the level of charge is - not what it really is.
Put a volt-meter on each battery in the pack with the headlight and key in the on position. A fully charged 12 volt battery should show at least 13.6 volts with light load applied. If you find any that are more than 1/2 volt different than the others, you have a bad battery.
Depending on the charger you have and its age, it may or may-not have the “vacation mode” recycle firmware in it to allow unattended winter plugged-in storage. It’s possible they’re just discharged and could use a full overnight charge. Unplug the cord; wait a few minutes; and plug it back in. Let it charge till the full indicator (LED or whatever you year uses) tells you it’s fully charged and try driving it again. If you still have a -15 error, you probably have a failed battery.
My model year is 2007. How do I tell if I have a charger with “vacation mode”? Will be useful to know for next year. Thanks for the info. I will check it out.
What brand charger is it? If it’s the Zivan charger, it’ll have a sticker saying “micro upgraded” if it recycles every 2 weeks. Dunno about the other brands. You might have to call the charger manufacturer as Polaris is less than useless.
[QUOTE=bob.peloquin;15276]The bars are what the motor-controller thinks the level of charge is - not what it really is.
Put a volt-meter on each battery in the pack with the headlight and key in the on position. A fully charged 12 volt battery should show at least 13.6 volts with light load applied. If you find any that are more than 1/2 volt different than the others, you have a bad battery.
Depending on the charger you have and its age, it may or may-not have the “vacation mode” recycle firmware in it to allow unattended winter plugged-in storage. It’s possible they’re just discharged and could use a full overnight charge. Unplug the cord; wait a few minutes; and plug it back in. Let it charge till the full indicator (LED or whatever you year uses) tells you it’s fully charged and try driving it again. If you still have a -15 error, you probably have a failed battery.[/QUOTE]
Here are readings on batteries 11.38, 11.47, 10.84, 10.91, 10.79, 10.74. This is with no load. Not sure how to put load on them. What do these values tell about my problem?
Your charger did not keep them charged over the winter. Those values are showing dead-dead-dead batteries. Try plugging in the on-board charger but it may not want to charge such low batteries. In that case, use a conventional 10 amp, 12 volt automotive charger for 1/2 to 1 hour on each battery in turn till their voltages are above 11.5 to 12.0 volts each. Then use the on-board charger to give the pack a full charge.
I suggest if you’re going to ignore the GEM all winter that you get a 7-day timer and set one short off-period each week; like at midnight on Sunday for example; to use during the winter months (or all the time). This way, every week you’ll get a full charge cycle no matter what. Ideally, you would do this every two weeks, but I doubt you can find a 2-week timer anywhere. Charging once a week with the battery switch left ON will keep them fully charged.
Did you leave the battery switch on over the winter? If so, you discharged them slowly due to the motor-controller’s small constant draw. The key switch only turns off the 72 volts to the DC converter, not the motor-controller. For periods of up to 3 months, you can do a full charge and then open the battery disconnect switch to remove all load from the batteries. Give the tops of the batteries a light cleaning with a baking-soda & water solution on a rag to remove all traces of conductive acid and dirt and let them rest for up to 3 months without any worry. At the end of their long sleep, close the battery disconnect switch and recharge completely.
The alternative is to send your charger to the manufacturer for an update if available.
Thanks for that Bob - very informative and you make it sounds so simple.
I hope you get the issue resolved soon Dickdl.
Regards,
Mark
Yes Bob, Thanks for the great info. I will try charging each of the batteries and let you know how that works. Is the controller and the charger the same thing or are they different items? I have a grey box that appears to be what batteries connect to. It says Global on it. Also says made in Puerto Rico and has catalog number 1c3645sr7a353t4. Black box says Sure Power Industries model 71030i.
SurePower is the charger. The one with the heavy wires is the motor-controller.
So the Sure Power charger is what I need to replace with a Zivan if I wannt to be able to plug it in and forget about it over an extended time period? Can you recommend a good source for the Zivan?
To charge the batteries with a standard 12 volt auto battery charger do I need to disconnect them from each other and charge each individually or can they be charged together?
You don’t need to disconnect anything.
First, turn the main switch under the seat (or on the under-part of the dash) OFF and then charge each 12 volt battery individually for about an hour with a 10 amp automotive charger. Observe the polarity on the battery terminals and put the red clamp on positive and black clamp on negative. When the hour is up, move the charger’s battery clamps to the next battery in the string and charge for an hour.
Repeat till you have charged each battery in the set (6 times). When done, measure the voltage of each battery. If they’re all at least 11.5 volts, turn the master switch ON and plug in the car’s charger which should then take over and charge them for you.
If any battery is much lower than the rest, charge that one with the car charger for a longer period. As long as you can get the total pack voltage above 68 volts the on-board charger should work.
If one battery fails to take a charge it must be replaced. If the batteries are over 4 or 5 years old, they may all need replacing at once. They don’t last forever under the best of conditions and you’ve obviously not kept them in the best condition judging by the severe discharge they’re showing now.
Are they maintenence-free batteries (gel-cells) or the Trojan flooded-cell type with the 6 removable caps? Of removable flooded cell type, check the water level in all 36 cells. If the tops of the plates are exposed you can add just enough DISTILLED WATER to cover them before charging, adding the rest to bring the level to 1/8 inch below the bottom of the opening after they’re fully charged. DO NOT FILL THEM until they’ve been charged - add just enough to cover the plates and mark that battery as suspect. Any battery with exposed plates is on its last leg usually.
If you have wet-cells, check the water level every week or two during heavy use or hot weather. Make sure you recharge the batteries every time you use it for more than a couple miles. Lack of proper charging kills batteries.
[QUOTE=dickdl;15322]So the Sure Power charger is what I need to replace with a Zivan if I wannt to be able to plug it in and forget about it over an extended time period? Can you recommend a good source for the Zivan?[/QUOTE]No - I never said that. I said to contact the manufacturer and see if they offer an update that allows you to trickle charge it over the winter.
Or get yourself a 1-week timer that will automatically re-cycle the charger each week. Just set the timer to on 24 hours a day except one day when it’s on 23 hours.
I don’t know about the Shure Power charger but I do know a Zivan has an update available that will automatically recycle it every 2 weeks. A trickle charger at the end of a full cycle is even better, but a full recycle every week or two should be OK for these rugged, heavy-duty batteries IMHO.
They are all Trojan GEL batteries and all under 2 years old.
Then charge them individually and hope for the best.
QuickCharge Corp has a OB7210 charger which has the “maintenance” charge feature. Also they can program for wet-cell; AGM; etc. Works great on my 2001 GEM. Comes w/ a 3 year warranty as well.
Al