Hello, this is my first posting so I hope I’m following the rules and putting this in the right place.
I bought a 2001 GEM E-825 72 Volt cart several weeks ago. It’s in great shape and has year old batteries. We were instructed to always leave it plugged in when not in use.
We’ve driven it several times and each time we drive down the hill, we hear beeping. I turn the key off and it goes away. Today while carrying four adults less than a mile, we got lots of beeping, then a red wrench and lots of codes we didn’t write down, such as -46, -14,-16. I found I could turn the key off then back on and the car would drive several feet before shutting down again. Eventually we towed it home and plugged it in and, wow, it sounded like it was sucking up all the power in the house. I turned it back on after a while and it seems okay again.
I’m new to this, not sure where to take it for service, and wondered if this is something you’ve heard of before.
Ya need more info on your charger and batteries. With the old Schott charger it was meant for the trojan batteries and if they are frequently charged while having higher than 80% capacity remaining, however, repeatedly doing so may cause excessive gassing. This equates to a loss of electrolyte, therefore the water should be checked more often. If you have a updated Zivan NG1 or Delta Q charger they had different algorithms to support flooded and gel batteries. Always make sure the batteries go through a full charge cycle before using, recommend charging overnight. It reverses the buildup of negative chemical effects like stratification, a condition where acid concentration is greater at the bottom of the battery than at the top. Perform a load test on batteries to see if you have any damaged cells. Other issues could be controller or motor related but still need more info.
Thank you for the great information. I wish there was a garage locally
where we could take it, but it sounds like I’ve got to test batteries,
drive it and record any errors.
Our batteries are Trojan 31xhs. The previous owner tells me he researched
diligently and found these to be optimal. He also told me the batteries are
highly susceptible to pH and temperature changes.
I’ll report back with more information add I get it, including the charger,
but I’m guessing it’s the Schott you mention.
The Schott charger is silver with metal fins in the front. The Zivan charger is black and rectangular. The Delta Q charger (QuiQ model) has a yellow face plate with black metal fins on the side. 3rd party chargers are usually the square black box labeled quick charge and also can be relabeled for ride-4-fun.
Okay, I’m back. The owner told me it just sounded like it wasn’t charged and since then I’ve not had an issue, but we barely use it. Tonight, however, it happened again.
It appears we’ve got the Schott charger. It had been charging for two days and was fully charged at 100%. Three adults and two small children took the carry out for less than twenty minutes. We watched it go from 100% to 65% to 55% in ten minutes before heading home.
Several minutes later, there was a loud click and the engine died. We got a volley of codes -4, -11, -15, -11 then beeping. I turn the ignition off and the car keeps beeping. Finally it stops. I wait, then start it again and press the gas, then I hear a click and I receive -15. I shut it down for several minutes after the beeping stops and it shows 33% charge, but gets me ten feet before the click and -15 and -11 again.
I’ve read the manual but I’m unsure why the rapid discharge. The nearest dealer is 100 miles away.
That’s about the performance to expect with poor batteries.
Looks like new batteries are in the cards.
Could be just one. Or water level low on a cell.
See if a connection is warm after a run.
You can find a bad battery with a cheap voltmeter.