controller life span

trav122

So after roughly 3 days of "exploratory surgery" on the 'ol cart, I' ve come to the conclusion that my 500 amp D and D controller has decided to retire for good. How long is the life expectancy of a controller? Is this something I'm going to be replacing every couple of years? Along with batteries and other upgrades, I'm thinking that maybe I should have gone with a gasser! ( I like the stealth mode of an elec. though....) I got about 3 1/2 years out of this one. Is that good? bad? What do ya'll think? What are the factors? Gonna look at a replacements tomorrow...

BGW

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LostHusker

You would think that would last longer, but I guess it really depends on how you use it, if you creap around with it, heavy loads, etc, etc. Bottom line it is just electronics so it is really hard to say. Do you have a D&D controller, or an Alltrax? Sometimes you can find refurbed ones from different places to help with the cost. Good Luck in your search.

scottyb

The controller in my CC is 17 yrs old. I have on the other hand seen controllers last 1 day. It is likely your controller is not matched to the job you are asking it to do &/or you are abusing it with low voltage and heavy load demands. Tell us about your system and any modifications to your cart and what the hardest work load it is asked to do is .... and we will see if somebody can't help you figure out why you are burning up controllers...... controller damage is accumulative.

jdkxtreme

Is it rough on a stock ez go set up 36v to creep around? I ride my 1 year old alot on it...

trav122

I use it almost every day. Get home from work and go take the dogs for a run,and drive down to the boat ramp and such. Pretty much have the pedal nailed most of the time. We've got a number of hills, some are fairly steep in this area. I'm about a block off of the water, and it does take some work to get down to lake side. It isn't a stock setup. i tried that and didn't work at all, so I upgraded to a D and D 500 amp controller matched to a D and D motor 51A. I wouldn't say that I'm rough on it, most of the driving is on the streets, but it does get on a dirt trail every now and then.

trav122

I forgot to add that I do have a small little dump cart that I attach to it sometimes for doing yard work...hauling bags of mulch, potted plants, sometimes some brush to the burn pile, but then again, that's relavitvely infrequent.

trav122

Any suggestions for where to find a new controller on line w/ prices? I'm guessing $400-500. Ouch.

LostHusker

Trav, Hey neighbor, I live in the Castroville area, I am not familiar with the 51A from D&D, but it sounds like your motor and controller may be mismatched for your use. It seems like you need more torque than speed considering what you are doing and or hauling. Maybe with the new controller set the speed down and more torque..

Talk to Carl and EV Drives and or call D&D to see if they have any refurbished Alltrax controllers?

edu01jose

I got my 500amp alltrax for 280 on ebay shipped. Here's the seller:
lisacheri

Send a message to her, I know she had many of them
=ed

rabbitreborn

I have recently worked on a 1991 that still has the original controller and I have seen them literally PUSH a cart on the trailer at the factory to deliver it to a customer only to find the controller was bad right off the line....

I think there are different opinions out there. Personally I think you are fine to creep a solid state cart around (assuming the only load is you and your wife/child).


Can you give us some information on that 51A motor, I have never heard of it, nor does Google give any data on it.