07-17-2012, 03:42 PM | #1 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2
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Sparks
when i push the accelerator it sparks down at the pedal scrubber thingy. is this normal? oh yeah, 1984 resistor cart with new batteries. all load test good but the thing won't last for 27 holes. I play on a nine hole course with a long uphill grade between holes 6 and 7. this hill kills my cart. what should i do?
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07-17-2012, 03:50 PM | #2 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Southeast Ohio -- "The Toenails of the Foothills of Appalachia"
Posts: 232
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Re: Sparks
My '84 Marathon resistor cart also "sparks" between speeds on the wiper board, but just a little spark. It also is very slow going up hills (with OLD batteries - > 9 years old).
There's a difference between an ARC (bright flash) and a spark - is your problem more ARCing than sparking? The reason I ask is that a little spark is probably normal (at least it is for my cart), but an ARC isn't. RLW |
07-17-2012, 03:53 PM | #3 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 2
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Re: Sparks
i would call it a pretty good spark. It does it like between wipers, not instantly but as it goes between the lugs.
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07-17-2012, 04:20 PM | #4 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Southeast Ohio -- "The Toenails of the Foothills of Appalachia"
Posts: 232
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Re: Sparks
Well...
I'm no expert - my '84 is the first cart I've worked on, but I *did* disassemble and rebuild the wiper board, resistor, and FNR switch, so I've got a tiny bit of experience here. I also spent my late wonder years working on big, honkin' computer mainframes that used big, honkin' DC power supplies, so I've got a bit of experience with DC power systems. I'd double-check the connections from the lugs on the wiper board and the motor/resistor assembly for starters. I'd look for maybe two lugs touching each other at either the wiper board or the resistor assembly. On my cart, there's not much clearance between them - I was careful to put heat shrink on all the lugs, and make sure there was 3/16" or so between the lugs. I'd also check to see that the coils in the resistor weren't touching - a couple of adjacent coils touching each other would drop the resistance in the coil, increasing the current, which could make a more substantial spark. Also, if the face of the spring-loaded terminal (the thingy with the wire that moves on the wiper board when you push the pedal) isn't pretty close to parallel to the the non-moving contacts on the wiper board, you could have arcing there. The reason is that the more surface area that contacts, the lower the resistance and the more current the thing can carry. More resistance, more sparking. An ARC looks like something you'd weld with. A "spark" looks like something you'd see if you shuffled your feet on the carpet on a cold day and touched a doorknob (in my way of seeing things!). Hope this helps... RLW |
07-18-2012, 04:39 PM | #5 |
steeplejack x
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Republic of Texas
Posts: 3,382
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Re: Sparks
As rlw intimated. Check the spring tension in the movable contact. If the spring is worn out you can see significant sparking/arcing on the accelerator board between the movable contact and the fixed ones.
Also, check the mechanical linkage from the accelerator and make sure you have full motion of the movable contact from the bottom contact to the top. Note the condition of the fixed contacts as continued sparking/arcing can deteriorate the copper. Some filing and sanding can get you by temporarily but the contacts are cheap and I believe still pretty available. Besides the obvious to see sparking/arcing, check for temperature as well. If it is hot, clean and shine, then check for heat again. If still hot, repair or replace. |
07-18-2012, 09:09 PM | #6 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Southeast Ohio -- "The Toenails of the Foothills of Appalachia"
Posts: 232
|
Re: Sparks
When I put my accelerator/wiper board back together, I attempted to flatten the face of the moving contact with my bench grinder. DON'T DO THAT! ;^)
I had a helluva time keeping it perfectly perpendicular to the flat side of the grinder wheel. After I'd removed a good eighth inch of the copper contact, I realized that wasn't the way to go. Instead, I reassembled the thing, and placed a piece of ~220 grit sandpaper, gritty side towards the wiper, onto the fixed contacts. I then moved the wiper back and forth until the face was parallel with the contacts. I turned the sandpaper over (actually, got a new piece) and held it with the wiper while moving it over the contacts. That took about 10 minutes, and the faces matched up pretty well. The only arcing I've seen have been of the shuffle-your-feet-on-a-cold-dry-day-and-touch-a-doorknob variety... Hope this helps. RLW |
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