Speed Code 4 Clarification

jkarl

Hello, First post after browsing the forum and reading everything on Speed code 4 for my club car precedent excel 2008. Short story long, I wanted to clarify some things that I discovered myself after not being able to find an answer on the issue so that it may help others.

After discovering that the speed magnet, code 5, etc wouldn't work on my excel serial PH-XXXX, so my only immediate option was to pay the CC dealer $100 to get the A, B, C codes for Speed code 4. Well, he was able to do this, and when I got the cart home I was only hitting about 16 MPH max. I figured the code didn't take but didn't want to trailer the cart another 40 miles to have him check it. I have new batteries, no dragging brakes, etc.

A very nice tech at my local repair shop, (I live on a golf course) let me borrow his Curtis 1311-4401 Programmer that he uses on EZ-Go's. I figured I needed the special club car IDQM to program anything, but I plugged the Curtis directly into the programmer by lifting the plastic cover on the bottom of the cart, and was surprised it worked.

It had all the settings of the IDQM and some additional throttle position settings. I saw that speed code 4 was enabled, and Speed Cal was at 0 (range 0-30), So I switched to monitor- Speed and drove the cart, reading the max speed off the programmer, which was 15.8.

Digging into the 1268 manual
" While driving the vehicle with full throttle applied, observe the Speed In and Arm PWM readings in the Monitor menu.
(Note: vehicle speed will display as 0.8 for speeds below 1.0.)
If the speed is being limited by the field map parameters,
the Arm PWM will be 100%. In this case, skip to Step 4.
If the vehicle is truly in closed loop speed control, the Arm
PWM will be less than 100%. The controller will be limiting the
vehicle speed to the programmed maximum speed by reducing
the applied armature voltage below the value commanded by
the throttle. In this case, proceed to Step 3"


I continued to drive and noticed the ARM PWM was maxed out at 85% and the the Field MIN 2.8. So the speed was being limited by the S4 Field Min amp parameters, this is under throttle settings in program, Speed 4 field- S4 Field MIN, I lowered it to 1 amp (1-15 Amps), and I got full speed of 19.8

So the short and sweet is if you have speed code 4 and are not getting your full speed, ensure that the speed cal is set to 0 and the s4 Field Min or FWD field min is set to 1 AMP, or it will restrict your speed. You can also program your speed codes A, B and C in with the Curtis 1311-4401 Programmer. I switched to code 3 and then back to 4 by entering the A, b, C coded and going to tow for 10 seconds.

I searched a ton of threads but couldn't find this anywhere, maybe I missed it but thanks for all the good info on here, I learned a lot!

BGW

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Gregorio

Thanks for the detailed post. My dealer wanted $120 for the Code 4 which included a "road test". Now I get why.

SouthCo

Great info...

TahoeDawgZ71

Do you have a 1268 controller? I see you're looking at a 1268 manual. The factory excel controller with an IQDM won't let you modify those field settings. You either have a different programmer or a different controller.

Sergio

I think you are misreading what the manual says...

If the armature PWM is already at 100% (meaning full voltage not current) and the cart is not reaching the speed limit imposed by the speed code setting, then a high Field current is what is limiting the speed.

If the Armature PWM was less than 100%, but the speed was at the limit imposed by the speed code setting, then the Controller was throttling the Armature down to limit speed. You could in this case Increase the Field current to get better torque and still reach the max speed allowed by the speed code.

Your Armature PWM was only reaching 85%, but the cart was not at speed limit, so the speed issue is most likely an MCOR/Throttle problem not allowing 100%.

What you did was "Field Weakening", it will cause the motor to run hotter and the armature will still not reach 100% voltage.

Here is a link to the "Field Weakening" curve for the stock motor so You can see that 1 amp is below the manufacture recommended 4 amps.

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/attac...ning_curve.jpg

The 1268 controller also lets you adjust the actual curve, called "Motor Map" by Alltrax, that way You can at least make sure the lower Field current can only occur at very low Armature currents (high Speed).

jkarl

I have the stock controller, I did check the throttle % in monitor and was getting 100% meaning the controller should have been getting a 100% input for the speed.

When I decreased the min field amps and ran the cart I was maxing out at 100% ARM PWM, but didn't notice the Min Amps, it will run below 4 amps at top speed, (above approx. 14MPH) but it was set to 2.8 when I lowered it.

If the controller is tuned such that the system is operating outside the
motor’s safe commutation region, there will be audible and visual indications.
Under normal operation, the motor will emit a whine with a pitch that increases
with increasing rotation speed. If a “scratchy” sound is also heard, this is usually
an indication that pin arcing is occurring in the motor and it is operating
outside its safe commutation region. This operation is normally accompanied
by a strong smell from the motor. If the brushes and commutator bars are visible,
arcing may be visible. The further outside the safe commutation region the
motor is operating, the worse the arcing will be. Operation outside the safe
commutation region is very detrimental to the motor. The Field Min and
possibly also the Field Map parameter should be increased until the indications
of arcing stop. Decreasing the Field Map Start parameter will also help to move
operation back into the safe commutation region.

So its probably not the throttle, any other suggestions. The batteries are new, but could this limit the speed?

I'm out of ideas.

Sergio

With stock size tires, current will not be a limiting effect on the high speed.

The voltage at the armature will be.

You should be able to measure pack voltage at high speed to see if it is dropping below 48v.

If it is not, You also need to use some alligator clips right at the motor A1 and A2 to make sure the same voltage is being delivered to the motor.

I wonder if the A,B,C speed code when entered into the controller also unlocks the ability to modify the field weakening curve...

jkarl

I was getting about 46-47 volts under load. Are you saying that I should not be limiting on speed based on the voltage? I guess I can put the Min field back to 2.8 but I was still limiting out at about 15 with this setting.