Today I discovered why Quick Charge does not attempt to directly market their chargers to the NEV after market. The well known accessory supplier Ride-for-Fun (R4F) is selling the chargers on Ebay and their own website. Minor difference in the charger, BIG difference in the price! The SCOLVT7210 charger for our '05 GEM cost just about $400 and about $25 to ship. The R4F version comes in at a whopping $599 plus $45 shipping. Other than the private branding label and higher price, I can’t see any other difference. R4F claims that the special low voltage over ride feature is only available from them. However, the Quick Charge factory says they will ship units with the feature if specifically requested. They have always given us outstanding support in the past. I have never (yet) had to boost charge our GEM (with an old Lester) that has the Quick Charge unit installed, and this car has been run down really low. I asked the factory about the minimum recommended starting voltage. The SCO7210 (without the low voltage over ride) can charge from 36 volts. The SCOLVT7210 (with the low voltage over ride) can charge from 0 volts. The added feature cost about $40 and can be retrofitted to older chargers.
[quote=GEMmechanic;8730]Today I discovered why Quick Charge does not attempt to directly market their chargers to the NEV after market. The well known accessory supplier Ride-for-Fun (R4F) is selling the chargers on Ebay and their own website. Minor difference in the charger, BIG difference in the price! The SCO7210 charger for our '05 GEM cost just about $400 and about $25 to ship. The R4F version comes in at a whopping $599 plus $45 shipping. Other than the private branding label and higher price, I can’t see any other difference. R4F claims that the special low voltage over ride feature is only available from them. However, the Quick Charge factory says they will ship units with the feature if specifically requested. They have always given us outstanding support in the past. I have never (yet) had to boost charge our GEM (with an old Lester) that has the Quick Charge unit installed, and this car has been run down really low. I asked the factory about the minimum recommended starting voltage. The SCO7210 (without the low voltage over ride) can charge from 36 volts. The SCOLVT7210 (with the low voltage over ride) can charge from 0 volts. The added feature cost about $40 and can be retrofitted to older chargers.
Daniel[/quote]
Daniel,
If I replace the delta Q charger on my 2005 e4 with the Quick Charge / R4F SCO7210 charger will the battery charge indicator on the steering column still work?
The BDI is run off the motor-controller, not the charger. So; yes the BDI will still work as long as the motor controller knows the charger is charging (which it senses through the always-on 72 volt terminals).
Ride for Fun (RFF) claims that the charge indicator will work with their charger. They provide good instructions and technical support. My conversations with them indicate people who are willing to help and know their product well. However, I have heard of several others claiming RFF being rude over the phone. They claim to have sold over a thousand of their chargers.
[quote=GEMmechanic;16141]Ride for Fun (RFF) claims that the charge indicator will work with their charger. They provide good instructions and technical support. My conversations with them indicate people who are willing to help and know their product well. However, I have heard of several others claiming RFF being rude over the phone. They claim to have sold over a thousand of their chargers.
here is what i can tell yall about this …i have a 2009 ES and of course my Delta Q blewup with only 40 miles on the cart…so i did so research on the chargers and i also called Ride for fun and spoke to whom ever…here is what i found out…i was ready to order a ride for fun super charger…i called and the “dude” on the other line started telling me alittle about the charger and that i needed to leave the old charger inplace because the lcd display for the battery function runs through the old delta Q…then he became rude and then said [I]“if you want the dam charger go to my web site and order it, if you dont, then im too busy and didnt have time to talk on the phone”. [/I]all i was wanting to know was how fast he could get the unit to me …i wasnt so worred about the price because i needed the charger rite then…any way …i went on line and found the same charger as above from a place called EVDrive…it was about 400.00 shipped to my house …i installed it under the dash and out of sight…now i have a super charger and dont have to mess with anyone telling me they are to busy to talk to me about spending 600.00 for a charger…
now for the lcd readout… everything works like it should [B]BUT[/B] the battery part …after the first charge i only have one red bar showing on the LCD …the super charger says its fully charged and my cart runs fine but the battery display only has one red bar…:(:(…i wish i could get the battery display to work right but it still runs fine…
[quote=nosgsxr;16155]here is what i can tell yall about this …i have a 2009 ES and of course my Delta Q blewup with only 40 miles on the cart…so i did so research on the chargers and i also called Ride for fun and spoke to whom ever…here is what i found out…i was ready to order a ride for fun super charger…i called and the “dude” on the other line started telling me alittle about the charger and that i needed to leave the old charger inplace because the lcd display for the battery function runs through the old delta Q…then he became rude and then said [I]“if you want the dam charger go to my web site and order it, if you dont, then im too busy and didnt have time to talk on the phone”. [/I]all i was wanting to know was how fast he could get the unit to me …i wasnt so worred about the price because i needed the charger rite then…any way …i went on line and found the same charger as above from a place called EVDrive…it was about 400.00 shipped to my house …i installed it under the dash and out of sight…now i have a super charger and dont have to mess with anyone telling me they are to busy to talk to me about spending 600.00 for a charger…
now for the lcd readout… everything works like it should [B]BUT[/B] the battery part …after the first charge i only have one red bar showing on the LCD …the super charger says its fully charged and my cart runs fine but the battery display only has one red bar…:(:(…i wish i could get the battery display to work right but it still runs fine…[/quote]
Thanks so much for giving me the correct info on what to expect with the charger. Yes the R4F guys can be very rude…I’ve noticed that too. So if I understand you correctly, unless you have a working deltaQ and leave it installed in the car IN ADDITION to the new super charger, the LCD steering column display will not work correctly. Am I right?
[quote=gem4me;16156]Thanks so much for giving me the correct info on what to expect with the charger. Yes the R4F guys can be very rude…I’ve noticed that too. So if I understand you correctly, unless you have a working deltaQ and leave it installed in the car IN ADDITION to the new super charger, the LCD steering column display will not work correctly. Am I right?
Brad[/quote]
No my charger had stopped working. …plug it in and there was no lights or voltage out put…but some part of the display runs through the delta q…im gonna look at mine again later to see if I missed something but all I get is one red bar and my delta q charger is still in the car and still hooked up…all I did was take the main plug in loose and put the cord off the supercharger in the hole where the factory plug went…
no problem…hope you get your new charger hooked up…on a 2009 it will fit under the dash with a little fab work (no cutting or welding)…only thing is you cant see the display on the super charger…but i left my dash off and rode it then plugged it back in and watched the display to make sure it was full charged…now i just plug it in and ride it when i get ready…
I sent a couple of emails to R4F asking questions about their charger. I never received a response. If they had responded I would have ordered form them. I thought maybe the R4F website might be a scam so I started googling for reviews on them. I didn’t find much but a company Battery Chargers, DC Converters, Inverters, Solar Chargers | 12v Through 144v DC Equipment | ChargingChargers.com popped up and they sell the same charger, SCO7210 for $365. I spoke with them and placed the order. I installed it today on my 2005 e4, connected direct to the pack and it charged fine. My original charger is in the cart and in working order…I bought the new charger for the float feature, I like to leave the house with the pack fully charged and that was not the case if I did not turn off the cart master switch just after the original charger finished charging. So now the new charger is in and working but the BDI did not go to full after the new charger completed its cycle. The BDI was down one bar before during and after the charge cycle. I have a Battsix so I can get a reading on the pack voltage but it would be nice to have the BDI functioning properly.
I would assume the BDI on the newer GEMS with the combination DC-converter and fuse panel under the front cover use the charger to control the BDI instead of the motor-controller like the pre-2005 models. Unless your new charger can be programmed to operate the BDI and be connected to it, you’re going to have to do something else to estimate your state of charge, unfortunately.
I have to replace my bad delta Q in my 2001 gem. I have gel batteries I was wondering if I should order the quick charge SCO7210 or the SC07220. We use the Gem often I want a good charger but don’t know if I will cook the batteries with a 20 amp charge of the SC0720 or should stick with the 10 amp charge of the SC07210. Anyone have any sugestions?
thanks for the quick reply. One more question did anyone get any of the options temp compensation or drive lock out. Also do you know if it charges batteries that are ran down real low or is that another option. Thanks in advance for your answers!!
The Quick Charge SCO7210 and SCO7220 will charge a badly run down battery. It won’t charge a stone dead battery however. Just a few volts are needed to make it it work. You won’t have to go through the ordeal of manually charging each battery in order to recover.