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[[Image:Nikon D70 Battery Charger 1.jpg|thumb|right|251px] 36 volt chargers are not like the type you charge AA batteries with, they are usually for some kind of fork truck or found as an option on some generators, and can be confused with 35 volt battery minders, which are fairly inexpensive devices that trickle charge stored batteries or batteries on some type of device, The actual 36 volt chargers can be expensive, and complicated with electronic controls, voltage and current regulation, and rarely repairable by a DIY method, most will require experience of electrical device repair, sophisticated meters and tools, so without some previous experience, for the novice about all we can do here is go through some very basic checks, remember working around or with discharged batteries can be very dangerous and if you are not aware of these dangers, probably best this type of charger be left to professional repair, but we will go through some basics to make sure it is a defective charger, for skilled technicians this is not a simple device to repair, 36 volts is the clue this is likely no standard 12 or 24 volt charger



  1. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 1.jpg
    Be sure of the status of the battery. With a battery tester, and safety measures in place, a test of the battery and the supply power to the charger are the first two thing to consider. Charger is not charging or could the batteries just be bad?
  2. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 2.jpg
    A voltmeter and ammeter to measure current are required tools.
  3. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 3.jpg
    A Hydrometer for testing the specific gravity of the battery[s] is helpful or a dedicated battery tester, hand held meter will do that and more.
    • Charger usually means, to be used on a battery, so we are talking DC voltage OUT OF THE UNIT [again working around a discharged battery can be dangerous!
    • If you have little mechanical or electrical skills, it is no crime, but you won't learn from this repair, this is a bit advanced
    • The charging voltage may be more or less than 36 and make sure you are measuring the output with a DC meter and you have positive on positive and negative on negative
  4. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 4.jpg
    Try and remember to use the one hand safety method and don't put both hands near a live circuit of any type
    1. How to do the one hand, use alligator type clips, or at least one on one lead
    • if you get no voltage, and it is plugged into an AC source such as a wall outlet, is there voltage there?
  5. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 5.jpg
    Find a manual for the specific model if possible
    • Are there indicator lights and are they on?
    • Is there smoke or the smell of smoke or burning? If so and you are not experienced, stop.
    • Most common failures of chargers are attempting to charge dead or open batteries, or a load that that is not 36 volts creating high current or low current, next is a breaker or fuse on the unit, next is what is called a rectifier which changes AC to DC
    • What does a rectifier look like? Most modern types are square cube looking devices with four prongs or connection points, two marked with a ripple, two marked [one each] - for negative and + for positive
  6. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 6.jpg
    Look the unit over for obvious burnt or loose wires, if burnt stop.
  7. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 7.jpg
    Look for corroded connections with a green hue, even connected these corroded connections will stop or partially stop voltage from being sent from the charger
  8. Repair a 36 Volt Battery Charger Step 8.jpg
    16 If anything scares you when working on an electrical device stop. Being hurt is not worth it.

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  • An ac cord large enough to handle the current, a plug for the wall, a method to connect the transformer from the 120 side. And then the same for the 36 volt side.
  • Wire the 36 volts of AC to the two rectifier posts with the wave looking marking, DON'T PLUG IT IN YET TO EITHER END, then put two leads with the correct size on the - and + side of the rectifier.
  • Here are the simple parts, 120 volts of AC, a transformer to 36 or 40 volts AC, a rectifier rated for the total current of all batteries or devices needing 36 volts
  • You now have made a charger and also a basic understanding of how these chargers operate, but remember most have regulator that allows only so much charge so you don't charge too fast. If you do, it may cause an explosion
  • Now you have 36 AC volts from the secondary side of the transformer, DO NOT put that voltage or leads on a DC load, battery or set of batteries
  • Read a book on basic electrical repairs, a simple charger can be made from some simple components, but will not regulate the rate of charge
  • IF you have 36 unregulated DC volts, remember now you can overcharge, blow up, or ruin the batteries, ALWAYS wear safety goggles
  • Now plug in the 120 and the 36 Dc volts should be present and measurable with your meter
  • Chargers can be complex, 36 volts is a specific and common voltage for a device with either one 36 volt battery or three 12 volt batteries in series, most are 12 or 24, determine what you have as most 36 volt chargers are not generic chargers.


  • Wear goggles, keep all wiring unplugged until you give it a good visual inspection, clean up corrosion, make sure you have power to the unit,
  • Take it to a local repair shop for an estimate, it might be so inexpensive the whole idea is not worth taking on

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Categories: Hardware Maintenance and Repair | Recreational Vehicles

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