I have i think a 2000 gem car ( would have to dig out title to be sure). It sat all winter. I would go out there and plug in the charger every 3 to 4 weeks or so… Brand new batteries last year. Well anyway I went out there today to move it and I have nothing on the display. When I plug the charger into it I get four green blinking lights two times then it blinks two repetitive red lights,…Then the red blinking series continues. Any suggestions… There are a lot of weird sites out there and I really cant find anything… Think one site said I have low battery voltage …Please help annoyed!
This assumes you have a Zivan charger.
The blinking green lights are normal, the error LED’s are the red ones.
The Zivan manual says:
“Battery disconnected or not in conformity. (Verify the connection and the nominal Voltage)”
Assuming the batteries were connected properly and the car was driven before it went into storage, I would guess the battery pack has too low a voltage for the charger to kick in. I believe the low voltage drop out is 65V but I’m not sure, perhaps someone else can verify that.
Paul
Main [master power] switch under seat is on?
[quote=tincup;16369]This assumes you have a Zivan charger.
The blinking green lights are normal, the error LED’s are the red ones.
The Zivan manual says:
“Battery disconnected or not in conformity. (Verify the connection and the nominal Voltage)”
Assuming the batteries were connected properly and the car was driven before it went into storage, I would guess the battery pack has too low a voltage for the charger to kick in. I believe the low voltage drop out is 65V but I’m not sure, perhaps someone else can verify that.
Paul[/quote]
It worked well all last year with the new batteries… I am assuming that is the case with the batteries…i am individually trying to recharge the batteries now.
Re: if the main disconnect is on or off…Ive tried either way… The only way I get the red flashing light is with the charger (gem charger) plugged in…It will do the same with the main disconnect on or off…I charged it all this winter with the switch in the off position…Is that wrong?
With the main switch [under the seat] off, it disconnects the batteries and I don’t believe it will charge. The recovery from this is leave the switch off and use a 12v charger individually on each battery for about an hour each to bring them up to something closer to 12v one by one, turn the main switch on and then try plugging it in.
Al
So maybe that is why it is dead…i charged it with the disconnect off all winter…? Guess live and learn…i didn’t get a manual with it…lol
This is the latest. I’ve been putting the charger on it and now i’m getting a display. When I have the main disconnect on and key on I am getting a 0000 across the display…Still same issues with the red flashing lights but something is coming alive.
You’ll need to have the cutoff switch [under the seat] on to charge it using the onboard charger. Also you may need to run through the process again of charging each battery individually w/ the 12v charger. Essentially you’ll need to get the entire battery array up around 65v or so for the 72v charger to engage.
Al
Well, heres the good news… I charged the batteries individually… actually drove it tonite but it went from a 100 percent charge to 62 percent within 15 mins… then the batteries started smelling bad…not sure what rhat means…thanks for all the help up to this point…
Sounds like progress. The limited range sounds like the batteries weren’t fully charged when you took it out for a test drive. Were you able to plug it in and charge w/ the onboard charger? Did you check the fluid levels in the batteries?
You might have an “uneven” charge in the batteries. Some of them might be fully charged but others are not. Best way to resolve that is to charge it until the charger says it’s complete. Unplug it for a bit and then plug it back in again which forces the charger to start the charging process again. This will “overcharge” some of the batteries that are at full charge and force the weak sister batteries up to full charge.
Hey thanks for all the help! I thought they where charged to 100 percent with the gem car built in charger. But i am doing as u suggested and plugging her in again and charging it. Think will try bringing it up to full charge…swinging around the block and recharging it. The batteries say “no maintenance”…so im assuming u cant add water to them but unsure of that. I call the place i bought them from last night to c if there is a warranty in case one or two of the batteries are bad. I dont have a tester. So im going to try the charging sequence first and c what that brings…thanks again
Just curious as to what batteries you eventually bought. They should minimally be “deep discharge” batteries and NOT car batteries. There is a world of difference between the battery technologies and there intended use.
While there is a difference of opinion on brands, etc, I personally like Trojan batteries and use the 30XHS 130 AH flooded lead acid (FLA). Others have used the larger Trojan T1275 150AH FLA batteries while others swear by Sams Club, Deka, etc, etc. Someone in this forum even installed LiFePO4 batteries (I’m so jealous!).
Good luck,
Al
Another potential problem you may have is matching the charging profile of the onboard charger with the type of batteries you purchased. Each different type of battery has a different charging profile and that needs to “match” the battery type installed. For example, if the charge is set for FLA and you’re charging GEL or Lithium batteries, you’re asking for trouble.
How do I change that profile?
Little update tonite: After charging all day and doing the plug and unplug I drove it about 35 mins with the headlights on. It had much more power and I didn’t smell any battery smell tonite… it went from 100 percent down to 65 in that time frame but really didn’t loose much power like last night. I talked to the company I bought the batteries from and they think I might have one battery bad or two. guess they are the distributer for a local gem shop in town. They suggested testing each battery on a testor. Guess i’ll have to round one up. Because it is past the year warranty they pro-rate it per month. It works now and better but seems to me like it discharges still way to fast… I really cant remember how fast it discharged last year or know what is normal…
My inclination would be to run through a couple more charge cycles to attempt to equalize the charge in the batteries. Also I’d personally want to check the fluid levels in the batteries as well. Personally speaking maintenance-free batteries make me “nervous” and I’d be inclined to not use them in this application. In my opinion, by the nature of the application, the energetic charge cycle will tend to boil off water and require occasional topping off. Still if they’re marketed specifically as deep cycle batteries I guess they’d be acceptable.
I would think a battery distributor would have the ability to run a load test on the individual batteries to determine if one is bad. If you can in fact pry off a cover somehow and get to the fluid levels in the individual cells, you could also test them with an inexpensive hydrometer for specific gravity though load testing would be better.
Finally changing the charging profile to match the battery type if necessary would depend on the specific charger being used in your vehicle. Can’t help you with that one since I don’t have the OEM charger in my GEM.
Anyway sounds like you’re well on your way to getting your GEM back on the road.
If you made the mistake of allowing the batteries to self-discharge below 10.5 volts each, the onboard charger won’t charge them. Giving the individual batteries a surface charge to get them to the point where the onboard charger will take over is just the first step.
Since the batteries are in series and there’s only 2 wires from the charger, there’s no way for the charger to sense the individual battery’s voltage and current requirements during charging. In order to fully charge the batteries the charger needs to overcharge some slightly while the low batteries (and cells within a battery) come up to full charge. This can take several charge/discharge cycles to really equalize the charge. Meanwhile, flooded cell batteries are boiling off water. You need to check the flooded batteries frequently and add distilled water to just below the bottom of the fill tube as it’s used up.
Gel batteries, however, cannot take this type of overcharging and will often develop significant differences in cell-voltage and charge level between cells over time. The onboard charger is not as good at equalizing cells on gel or AGM batteries so you may have to use a 12 volt charger on each of the 6 batteries once in a while to equalize them. Make sure it’s a charger designed for gel batteries, however. The maximum voltage a gel battery can take without damage is a volt or so less than a typical flooded-cell battery.
Please make sure that your charger is set for your type of battery.
[quote=bob.peloquin;16444]If you made the mistake of allowing the batteries to self-discharge below 10.5 volts each, the onboard charger won’t charge them. Giving the individual batteries a surface charge to get them to the point where the onboard charger will take over is just the first step.
Since the batteries are in series and there’s only 2 wires from the charger, there’s no way for the charger to sense the individual battery’s voltage and current requirements during charging. In order to fully charge the batteries the charger needs to overcharge some slightly while the low batteries (and cells within a battery) come up to full charge. This can take several charge/discharge cycles to really equalize the charge. Meanwhile, flooded cell batteries are boiling off water. You need to check the flooded batteries frequently and add distilled water to just below the bottom of the fill tube as it’s used up.
Gel batteries, however, cannot take this type of overcharging and will often develop significant differences in cell-voltage and charge level between cells over time. The onboard charger is not as good at equalizing cells on gel or AGM batteries so you may have to use a 12 volt charger on each of the 6 batteries once in a while to equalize them. Make sure it’s a charger designed for gel batteries, however. The maximum voltage a gel battery can take without damage is a volt or so less than a typical flooded-cell battery.[/quote]
Sounds exactly what my problem is. The main battery that evidently is connected to the onboard charger must be low on water. I can hear is boiling. I did just buy a battery testor and am going to test each battery. I have a small credit towards replacement batteries so think im going to replace the bad ones and sell the gem car. its fun but don’t want to mess with battery issues every year.