1988 club car...a little scared

[golf cart man]

ok, how many reducers are required for all these accessories? I could do a 12v battery however not too sure where I would put it.... Also, I noticed that it appears that the accessories are ground to the frame. for example off of each headlight, the negative is bolted to a welded post on the frame. Same thing with the tail lights and fans. I then see one wire coming off of a negative battery post and going to a bolt on the frame (i guess grounding the frame?)...when I do the rebuild should I change this? I have redone several carts before but just cosmetically. I know the basics of electric carts, however the more detailed and in-depth things I don't. I have read that frame grounding is not good? People mention a fuse box, I have them on my boat however not too sure how I should wire one up for the cart.

[Scott H.]

Originally Posted by golf cart man

ok, how many reducers are required for all these accessories? I could do a 12v battery however not too sure where I would put it....

Honestly, if I was getting a reducer, I would go with the biggest one I could afford.

There are several options for accessory batteries and which way you go depends on the option you choose.

I run a deep cycle marine battery in the bag well of my cart, but if you go with that option I would recommend making a cover to hide it so that it doesn't ruin the looks.

With that big of a hood and plenty of room under it to work with, and it doesn't look like it opens anyway, I would think of having a battery mount fabricated to fit under there and run cables to an easily accessible spot for charging.

Now for another, but expensive, option. Wheel chair and mobility scooter batteries are smaller and easier to find spots for. Some people have mounted them behind the dash and in the glove boxes.

If you decide to go this route, I would recommend thinking about getting two of them just because of the amount of accessories you have. Running out of power and having no lights at night because someone decided to leave the radio playing isn't fun.

Originally Posted by golf cart man

Also, I noticed that it appears that the accessories are ground to the frame. for example off of each headlight, the negative is bolted to a welded post on the frame. Same thing with the tail lights and fans. I then see one wire coming off of a negative battery post and going to a bolt on the frame (i guess grounding the frame?)...when I do the rebuild should I change this? I have redone several carts before but just cosmetically. I know the basics of electric carts, however the more detailed and in-depth things I don't. I have read that frame grounding is not good?

If I were the one rewiring the cart, I would make a complete new harness with the ground going directly to the battery. The factory does it that way for a reason and I'm not about to argue with them.

Originally Posted by golf cart man

People mention a fuse box, I have them on my boat however not too sure how I should wire one up for the cart.

It's the same way. Fiberglass and plastic have the same conductivity - None!

Hope this helps,
-Scott H.

[golf cart man]

ok thank you very much for all the information Scott H.... just one last question. If you can tell me as simple as possible because as far as electrical I am not a genius on the cart that would be great...If i want to remove all of the accessories from grounding to the frame(and rewire all the accessories) and also install a fuse box, explain the wiring of one accessory (from battery to the fusebox to the accessory) both negative and positive leads, and then I can follow the same steps for the rest of the accessories. Thank you again for all the help.

[CRK]

Thats a BlueSea fuse box it has both positive and negative which is what you will need. One side is pos with the fuses the other side is neg.


Make sense or do you need more info?

[Scott H.]

The fuse box Chris used, and has in the pictures of, is one of the easiest boxes I have ever used to wire things up with. I had one in an old boat I recently rewired and then sold. I can truthfully say it was a dream to install.

I would grab another one of those to put in my cart any day!

-Scott H.

[golf cart man]

Thanks for the picture...the big black wire with the red heat shrink on it is the main positive for the block and the other big black is the negative main for the block? then the little red wire is the positive from an accessory? Does the negative go from the accessory to the negative battery post?

I looked up the Blue sea fuse boxes, they have 6 circuit ones and 12 circuit ones..with the amount of accessories I guess I would get a 12 circuit one...do I need it with or without a Negative bus?

labled photo

[golf cart man]

WOW!!! you are good!!! I understand 100% now!! now its time to get a reducer and fuse block ordered and redo all the wiring on the cart!!

Originally Posted by golf cart man

WOW!!! you are good!!! I understand 100% now!! now its time to get a reducer and fuse block ordered and redo all the wiring on the cart!!

[Scott H.]

Originally Posted by golf cart man

Thanks for the picture...the big black wire with the red heat shrink on it is the main positive for the block and the other big black is the negative main for the block?

Correct.

Originally Posted by golf cart man

then the little red wire is the positive from an accessory? Does the negative go from the accessory to the negative battery post?

The red wire is a positive lead.

If you get the single fuse block, with positive only, then the negative wires do go to the negative post on the battery.

If you get the fuse block with a negative buss, then the negative goes to the screws on the negative side of the fuse block. Those would be the screws without the fuses next to them in the picture.

Originally Posted by golf cart man

I looked up the Blue sea fuse boxes, they have 6 circuit ones and 12 circuit ones..with the amount of accessories I guess I would get a 12 circuit one...do I need it with or without a Negative bus?

That's your call. Personally I would get the negative buss equipped box just for the ease of wiring.

The small amount I spent over the regular fuse box to purchase the box with the negative buss saved time and I didn't have the headache of running wires to two different places.

The major plus to it is you only have 2 cables to hook up to the battery. You don't have to make sure, or question yourself about, hooking all the wires back up if you have to disconnect the battery.

On a complete separate subject, I just noticed you have the year is listed as a 1988. If you still have the old resistor coil and solenoid setup in the cart, I highly recommend you talk to ScottyB about upgrading your electronics.

http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Scotty...rsion_Kit.html

With as much weight as the cart is pushing, the modern electronics will give you better performance and less headaches. I fought the good fight trying to keep my '86 with the resistors and solenoids going, but with the trailers I pull and the weight I haul, I was always fixing something.

I converted to a controller system, ditched the solenoids, and haven't had to fix it again (knock on wood). I'm not even going to bother trying to fix another solenoid cart if I ever get another one, I'm just doing the conversion from the get go and calling it done!

If you need more help, I'll be back online tomorrow. I spent 8+ hours in the heat today doing yard work and I'm wiped out. My body is telling me it's time for bed and I'm going to listen to it.

-Scott H.