If you have an electric golf cart it can be difficult to diagnose problems without a little bit of help.  After all the problem could be bad batteries, a faulty charger, a bad On Board Computer, bad battery wires, low voltage and hole list of other things.  By reading these facts below it may help diagnose your golf cart charging problem.

How to Troubleshoot Your Golf Cart Charger

Your Charger Won’t Turn On

If the charger doesn’t turn on, it may still may work so we will need to check a few things.

Ensure batteries have some charge.

If the batteries have a very low charge or no charge then the voltage may be too low for the charger to detect them. If the charger can't detect batteries it will not turn on.  A base charge of 25% will usually wake up your charger and begin charging.

If you have no or low charge on your batteries, charge each with a manual charger for about 20-30 minutes each.  You do not need to remove them from the cart, just charge each battery.  

Check Your Connections

Make sure that you have connected the batteries properly.  It is always good to take a picture of the battery pack before removing and installing new batteries.  Then do a final check to make sure that batteries are connected so wires go from negative to positive and never from negative to negative or positive to positive.

Make sure there are no weak, frayed or loose wires.as this can cause your charger to not operate correctly.

Make sure you remove all battery terminal for corrosion or buildup. as this can also cause the charger to not operate correctly.

Battery vs. Charger

Generally if you plug in your charger, and nothing happens, there is most likely a problem with your batteries or connections.

Determine if your batteries need replacing or just charging by using a voltage tester that puts a load on the batteries.

If you golf cart does not have a long run time or rides jerky you may need a new set of batteries.

Charger Doesn't Run, Runs Too Long or Not Long Enough

If your charger runs too long or doesn't shut off you may have a bad On Board Computer - OBC.

The OBC is the brain of your charger and can cause the cart to not charge properly or at all.

See our other FAQ pages on how to test the OBC.

If the OBC is working correctly, the relay should make a “click” sound when the charger is plugged in.  If not, you could have a blown fuse. If you check the fuse and it is okay, then you could also have a damaged relay.

Clicking Sound

If your golf cart charger makes a clicking sound when connected, then does nothing, it is a strong indication that your charger has failed for some reason.

Identifying bad batteries, bad chargers, bad OBC"s and troubleshooting problems can be a lot of work. 

Contact Tidewater Carts Superstore today for advice, service, batteries and parts.