Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
#16
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Will do, but while we're waiting for Willie's expert opinion on Monday, let me run this past the electrical engineers out there:
It is the controller that is running hot, and the controller "meters out the battery voltage and current to the motor based on some type of operator input such as a throttle. This allows for the operator to control the rate of acceleration and deceleration as well as the rate of speed the vehicle moves at." Assuming that the recently-installed replacement motor is too powerful (draws too much current) for the existing electrics, could it be that Mrs Fox's going at a reduced speed is actually causing the controller to have to do too much work? |
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#17
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I am not an electrical engineer, but...
the controller is like a water valve that you can open and close or leave someplace in the middle. A 1/2 inch water valve can supply between 0 and 20 gallons of water per minute. a 3/4 inch water valve can supply between 0 and 40 gallons of water per minute. Similarly, a controller can be small or big. A small one might provide between 0 and 100 amps, while a large one might provide between 0 and 200 amps (made up numbers). A 'too powerful' motor cannot draw more power than the controller is designed to supply. If you have the same old small controller, a new 'more powerful' motor will only run as fast as the old one because it is only getting the juice that the old one got. If your controller is getting hot, it is possible that it is dying or that the connections are indeed corroded or loose or something. All the juice from the batteries to the motor goes thru the controller. |
#18
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Quote:
The cart is 18 years old so it is quite possible that the controller needs to be replaced. (Mrs Fox is even older, but I'll hang on to her a bit longer) |
#19
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Your only as strong as your weakest part. A motor can try and pull a lot of amps, but the weakest link in the chain will show up. Controller can and will get hot with the wrong combo, but does have whats called, "thermal shutdown" built into it. Thus, if it gets internally to hot, it will shut down. See it way to often that a motor is put in, not for the good of the customer, but good for the installers pocket.
Now you could get talked into a controller that has more amps, and that will end that issue and the issue may go to the next weakest link. Controllers do fail over time, but not the way you are describing. |
#20
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Quote:
Willy found a couple of loose wires in the controller so tightened them up, and checked all of the battery connections. Unfortunately, what we all thought was going to be the quick fix turned out not to be the case, and the smell of hot electrics came on quicker and stronger next time we went out in the cart. Willy returned and replaced the solenoid in the controller. That seems to have done the trick. There is still a slight smell of hot electrics (but only when you lift the seat, so maybe that is normal) and the covers on the fwd/rvs and the controller are only warm, not hot. |
#21
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Thanks for the follow-up. Interesting, and, as usual, it was not one clean thing but two.
Also, at 18 years old and with only 36 volts, it might be time to keep an eye out for a good deal on a newer 48 volt cart. |
Closed Thread |
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