96 club car state of charge meter

[jimr3]

How do I hook up a state of charge meter on a 96 48v club car?
The diagram says to hook up a red and black wire to the meter, but I don't know where they are. It also has a 3rd wire that goes to the switch and I get that one, but I don't know where the red and black are.
Thanks,
Jim

[gaminde]

they most likely mean the battery pack positive and negative of your 48 volts

[jimr3]

If I hook one wire to the neg post of the first batt and another to the pos post of the 6th batt it shorts out. Do I use the black and red wires out of the charger plug?

[gaminde]

If I hook one wire to the neg post of the first batt and another to the pos post of the 6th batt it shorts out. Do I use the black and red wires out of the charger plug?

I have no idea what you have, if you shorted it out it most likely bad. Red is positive and black is negative what voltage is it rated for. and how to you know its shorted ?

[jimr3]

I did not plug it into the meter. I just touched the wires together with a multi-meter to check on the voltage and it sparked badly. So I did not hook the meter up for fear of burning it up. I have an electrical diag that shows a red and black wire coming out of the charger plug. Could that be the wires I'm supposed to use? I haven't checked the voltage on them yet.

[gaminde]

so what your saying is you hooked up something else and it sparked and now you won't hook up the meter

[jimr3]

That's right. If I can't check the voltage with a multi-meter, I'm afraid it will fry the batt meter when I hook it up.

[Larry1950]

Ok, do not touch the wires together. The red wire on the multi meter plugs into the "volt" plug on the multi meter, the black wire from the multi meter goes to common or negative on the multi meter. Make sure the multi meter is on the proper scale. Now touch the black wire from the multi meter to the first battery negative post, then touch the red wire to the positive post of the last battery you should read the voltage of around 52v. You can't burn up the charge meter. Attach the wires to the charge meter before connecting to the batteries. Attach a black wire to the negative of the charge meter. Now attach a red wire to the positive side of the charge meter.Attach the black wire from the charge meter to the negative of the first battery, attach the red wire to the positive post of the last battery. The 3rd wire goes to the on/off switch and turns on the meter.

[jimr3]

Ok, do not touch the wires together. The red wire on the multi meter plugs into the "volt" plug on the multi meter, the black wire from the multi meter goes to common or negative on the multi meter. Make sure the multi meter is on the proper scale. Now touch the black wire from the multi meter to the first battery negative post, then touch the red wire to the positive post of the last battery you should read the voltage of around 52v. You can't burn up the charge meter. Attach the wires to the charge meter before connecting to the batteries. Attach a black wire to the negative of the charge meter. Now attach a red wire to the positive side of the charge meter.Attach the black wire from the charge meter to the negative of the first battery, attach the red wire to the positive post of the last battery. The 3rd wire goes to the on/off switch and turns on the meter.

Thank you. You were exactly right. I am 69 years old and have used multi-meters for more years than I care to remember. I like them because they save you from destroying a lot of sensitive electronic equipment. My good meter crapped out and I grabbed an old one, and would you know it, the leads hooked up differently. I straightened them out, the meter works fine and so does the battery meter. I guess you have to live a long time to be able to admit just how dumb you can really be. I suffer from CRS.
Thanks again,
Jim

[gaminde]

Jimr3 glad you got it working, Larry good job you handled that perfectly.

[Larry1950]

I understand, been there don't remember that. I have several digital multi meters, and yet some how I always end up with my old Simpson. I did pick up a new meter at the Dayton Hamvention this year I really like. It does capacitance, inductance, resistance, ac/dc voltage, transistor/diode all for $20.00. Now if it could only make coffee!

[gaminde]

I understand, been there don't remember that. I have several digital multi meters, and yet some how I always end up with my old Simpson. I did pick up a new meter at the Dayton Hamvention this year I really like. It does capacitance, inductance, resistance, ac/dc voltage, transistor/diode all for $20.00. Now if it could only make coffee!

Yep I have two of the 260 Simpson best meter ever.