Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post

jdunmyer · 11-20-2012, 07:58 AM

I first tried my pallet truck contactor on 24 volts and measured the current draw, it was just under 900 Ma. Ohm's Law tells me that I need a resistor of about 15 ohms and it has to handle 10 or 12 watts of power. A quick search turned up power resistors on Amazon, a 15 ohm, 25-watt resistor was less than $4.00, so I ordered 2. Took a couple of weeks, but they arrived, and NO shipping charges.

Disclosure: I have no connection to Amazon other than being an occasional customer.

The resistor is wired in series with the common connection on the contactor coils, so 1 resistor serves both coils. All the wiring on my cart has been done by using the diagrams in the Curtis 1204/1205 manual.

BTW: I've found a couple of electric pallet trucks in the scrapyard, and SOME have a Curtis controller rated at 24-36 volts, so will work in a 36-volt golf cart. You'll still need the speed control pot, of course. If you're wanting to change an old resistor cart to a controller, it's a cheap way to go. Also, some of the pallet trucks use very heavy cables, so grab them while you're at it.

11-20-2012, 07:58 AM	#5
jdunmyer Gone Wild Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Lower SE Michigan Posts: 330	Re: Reversing switch or contactor? I first tried my pallet truck contactor on 24 volts and measured the current draw, it was just under 900 Ma. Ohm's Law tells me that I need a resistor of about 15 ohms and it has to handle 10 or 12 watts of power. A quick search turned up power resistors on Amazon, a 15 ohm, 25-watt resistor was less than $4.00, so I ordered 2. Took a couple of weeks, but they arrived, and NO shipping charges. Disclosure: I have no connection to Amazon other than being an occasional customer. The resistor is wired in series with the common connection on the contactor coils, so 1 resistor serves both coils. All the wiring on my cart has been done by using the diagrams in the Curtis 1204/1205 manual. BTW: I've found a couple of electric pallet trucks in the scrapyard, and SOME have a Curtis controller rated at 24-36 volts, so will work in a 36-volt golf cart. You'll still need the speed control pot, of course. If you're wanting to change an old resistor cart to a controller, it's a cheap way to go. Also, some of the pallet trucks use very heavy cables, so grab them while you're at it.