new guy with questions

[sailbode]

Greetings from North Jersey!
I have a 36v ezgo I use on my hilly property for giving grandchildren rides and wife would like to use for getting the mail and pulling a small yard cart.
My first problem is burning smells. First from the solenoid, then from the reverse switch. I have replaced both but still find the terminals on the swich getting hot. I checked my amp draw and from a dead stop 200 amps dropping to 170ish on steep hill....35ish on flat......soun normal?
Cheapest way to get more power on hills? Dont care about hi speed.
Any and all advise appreciated

[scottyb]

Those draws sound normal. Curious how you measured them. The cart drive system is designed for 18" tires, 2 passengers, moderate terrain... golf.
When put them into private service the stock components often fail due to higher temps associated with higher amp draw. Hilly terrain is probably the biggest complaint.
The 2.5 hp motor is restricted by a 275 amp controller. Increasing the size of the speed control will allow the motor to draw more amperage and produce more torque (power). If you increase the amount of amperage flowing in the system then it becomes necessary to increase the amperage handling components within the whole system to prevent resistance (a breaking point).

[Sir Nuke]

what type of cart do you have? is it a Series cart, or a Sepex? the answer to your "power of hills" question would be different depending of what type of drive system you have.

How old is your cart? what year.......your problem could be your high current cables are old and degraded.


oh and btw....Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to BGW. There is a BIG fridge on the back porch with anything you can think of in it...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have. Make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom's, wive's, husbands, girlfirends and boyfriends here don't care....and take it easy.



oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

[sailbode]

My cart is a 9603 with lever type reverse switch.
Thanks for the warm welcome....do you have any stouts in that fridge?

[sailbode]

I am a auto mechanic and I used a digital inductive amp meter we use on car starter circuits

[sailbode]

So perhaps a 300 amp controller and a new set of cables?

[JohnnieB]

Welcome to BGW!

I'll second everything Scotty said, but would like to know a bit more about the cart.
If you enter the serial number on the EZGO site linked below, it ought to tell you what it is, or you can get a pretty good idea from the pictures seen there.
https://shop.ezgo.com/customer-servi...ialNumber.html

What size tires are on your cart?
Tires over 18" tall reduce the torque available where rubber meets road and the cart slows down more on hills.

You mentioned the terminals on the F/R switch getting hot. Anything getting hot is lost torque.
If it is an older cart, the high current cables are likely to be 6Ga and they should all (there are at least 13 of them is a series drive cart) be a minimum of 4Ga.

I'm speculating, but it sounds like your high current cables and connections need some TLC just to get the cart up to nominal stock performance.

I'm basing this on the amp draws you reported. They seem a bit on the low side of nominal to me, especially the 35A on the flats. (If the throttle was wide open and the cart has 18" tires and was doing less than 20 MPH, that is. )

In addition to generating heat, excessive resistance in the cables and connections drop voltage across that resistance, so less of the battery pack voltage is applied to the motor, which in turn reduces the amount of current flow through the motor, so the motor does not produce as much torque and the cart is more sluggish on the hills.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sailbode

So perhaps a 300 amp controller and a new set of cables?

If you got hills and want to tow a small cart, you might be happier with a 400A controller.
Give Scotty a call, he'll steer you in the right direction.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Custom_Options.html

[sailbode]

What might happen if I add one 6v battery upping to 42 volts?

[sailbode]

I understand what ever I do, new cables are a must.