Another Question regarding lights

rinlow

Recently you all helped me with an issue of the golf cart not charging as we thought it was a fuse issue which became more of a cleaning issue.

Here is what I have 95 Club Car 48 Volt system. When I purchased it a couple years ago I had lights installed. He did this without a 48 to 12v reducer. I recently replaced the batteries. I have tried hooking the lights back up to the batteries to the exact same place which they were hooked up to and the lights still do not work.

I believe the lights are 12 volt I also want to add a horn to this cart is there a way of doing this without spending 140 for a 48v/12v reducer.

Thanks all,

Rich
Dumfries, VA

BGW

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scottyb

Typically you have 6/8v batteries in a 48v cart.
You can get 16v from any 2 batteries in series. The extra voltage will shorten the life of the light bulb and the if you use them often, the extra drain will create a pack imbalance which will shorten the life of the pack ~ Making the cost of a voltage reducer look cheap!

shadowman

i agree with scotty.......you should be able to find a reducer cheaper than 140 or if its an option put a good 12 volt battery in the cart to run your lights and horn off of.............................

dougmcp

You can buy a 24v to 12v reducer on ebay for less than $20.

Scott H.

That is what I'm planning on doing with mine. I'm using a Marine (boat) battery and leaving the Cart Batteries alone so that I can get the best life out of the battery pack. I'll charge the Marine Battery with a car battery charger when it needs to be charged.

Honestly, like Scottyb said, it's just not worth taking the chance of ruining an expensive battery pack for a set of lights (and a radio later) to me.

Hope this helps,
-Scott H.

scottyb

The whole point of using a battery voltage reducer is to draw evenly off of the whole pack. Trojan battery has informed me that drawing off of 2/6s for 12v or 3/8s(24v) for accessory power will cause an imbalance in the pack which will have a negative effect on the useful lifespan of the whole pack.... but hey ~ That's just Trojan Battery Company talking, not me.

Club Car produced carts with a 16>12 reducer in them for many years and the CC guys will tell you that the 2/8v batteries connected to the reducer almost always failed first and drug the rest of the pack down with them... as Shadowman or OLDMEC

Another nasty scenario comes when recharging a pack with 2 batteries that have been drawn down lower than the other 4 ... the 2 low ones take longer to recharge than the 4 not so low ones.... since the charger or OBC is waiting for an overall voltage to turn off at ~ it continually over charges the 4 good ones and leaves the 2 bad ones a little low ........ this happens each time you recharge. It is hardly noticeable at first but, the difference grows with time.

Grinch

Scottyb, From the wiring of my CC it appears that going in reverse uses only half the batteries. If this is correct, then how does backing up effect the pack?

sonicj

it murders them. slowly.