Adding 2 batteries to 36v resistor cart

rmoreaux1

I have a 88 36v club car DS. What do I need to upgrade it to 48v. I already have upgraded battery wires. Can I just add 2 6 volt batteries under the rear seat area? I know the motor will handle it but I have read that you need to upgrade the controller. Does my cart even have a controller since it is a resistor cart. I know the forward and reverse switch would need upgraded and so would the solenoid. Anything else?


Thanks.

BGW

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Golferdave

Six 8 volt batts is the normal for a 48 volt pack

rmoreaux1

I understand that but my 6 6 volt batteries are nearly new and don't want to replace them at this time.

Fairtax4me

I think most people prefer to upgrade the toaster coils to a controller setup, but it's not exactly required. The main obstacle is how fast you drive on a regular basis. If you just want to putter around at half pedal, the resistors will heat up red hot and burn out. But running at full pedal down the motor gets straight power from the batteries, so none of the resistors are used at that time. If this is your driving type, you can probably run the resistor setup on 48v for quite some time with no other modification. That said, I'm not an expert on those setups, hopefully some other people here who have done it will chime in.

Pretty sure Mooncarter had/has a resistor cart running 48V.

Two extra 6v batteries is a common setup, so adding two in the bag well is not a problem. You should upgrade all of your battery AND Motor cables to larger gauge. I think at least 4 gauge is the recommended minimum to help avoid losses due to the cable length needed to get the rear two batteries connected.

ncfenceguy

Ditto on what Fairtax said. I had a resistor cart that was run on 72 volts for a long time (6-12volt batteries). They don't like to putt around but wide open, it handled it fine. I eventually put a cooling fan on the coils and they handled it going slower fine after that. A friend of mine still has the cart as I sold it to him, 10 years ago. He just does the occasional full speed blast with it now or the brushes in the motor would be gone by now.

Fairtax4me

Whooooo! Double the voltage I bet that thing would haul donkey!