Newbie with charger problems

[Jim Elks]

Hi Guys,
I picked up a 2000 EZ-GO, it had weak batteries so I replaced 4 of them and kept the best 2. The cart runs great. The charger on the other hand is not working, here's what I have so far-
Power Wise 36 Volt Charger
When I first tried it, nothing, no power, no charging.
Opened up the case and found the 50amp fuse blown so I replaced it. I plugged the charger in the wall outlet first and when I tried to plug the cart in it was like a dead short, even did a little welding. After I cleaned up the cart plug with my Dremel and changed my shorts, I tried again with the cart plugged in first, but as soon as I plugged the charger into the cart the 50 amp fuse blew. (the charger was not plugged into the wall outlet) Soo I thought maybe some DPO had changed the polarity on charging plug that's wired to the batteries, I switched the 2 wires and tried again, the fuse blew as soon as I plugged the charger to the cart, again, not plugged into the wall outlet.
I have checked the capacitor with my ohm meter seems ok -no short
I am assuming the transformer is ok
Have pulled both circut boards, nothing obvious- of course, am assuming the problem is with one or both.
any input would be appreciated.
Thanks Jim

[nbirt]

Make sure batteries are wired right and charging wires from back of carts charging receptacle are not backwards. You could be getting a reverse feed from batteries to charger. just a suggestion.

[Jim Elks]

Thanks for the reply, yes, batteries are in right, cart runs great, connections are tight. I've done a little more testing with my meter, across main the leads from the charger to the cart i get almost a dead short and can trace it back to the transformer. I hope it's not bad, but how do you tell if you have a bad transformer? How do you test for bad diodes?

[nbirt]

To check your diodes...Put your multimeter on continuity test. Put red probe on wire side of diode and black probe on base of diode. Meter should read continuity. Now reverse probes and should not be continuity. If you do read continuity the diode is bad. Check the other diode as well. If one is bad, its better to change both rather than just one. Not sure about transformer I'll have to check my books so I will not tell you wrong.

[Jim Elks]

Thanks, for the tip, the diodes are good. But from what I have learned so far the transformer is shot. I guess I'll be shopping for a charger. Anyone have a Powerwise 36V for sale?