Keep melting heavy duty forward reverse switch

[smokey tennis shoe]

I have a 2004 txt 42 volt. I year old trojan batteries.

This is a western elegante cart on a txt frame. Stock western cart as far as
10" tires. 6 hp motor, has the GE controller with the that small conversion box between the controller and the ITS.

About a month ago, the forward reverse switch melted, the main wire from the controller to the middle stud on the switch. I installed a heavy duty switch with the thick copper bars.

After that , cart ran for 1 round of golf. Then after charging , the following day on hole 7, the heavy duty forward reverse switch melted again.

I removed the newer melted switch, and the exact same stud location on the new switch was melted.

I'm trying to find out why all of a sudden the cart has melted 2 switchws.

Here is something i noticed, that the switch has 4 big wires on it. The 2 wires that run back to the motor are bigger #4 welding wire. The other 2 wires on the switch look smaller, like #6 wire,. The wire that melts the switch is a #6 that runs from switch to controller.

ALSO, the 2 smaller wires are real long, probably have almost 24 inches of extra wire in the length.

I am wondering if the smaller and longer wires caused this, but then i think that this cart has ran for years like this?

Any ideas what is causing the switches to burn up in the same lug?

[Sergio]

Since it is unlikely the cable jacket has a higher melting temperature than copper, the issue is not the cable gauge itself but a poor/corroded/otherwise high resistance connection at that stud.

Since it is a Series cart, it is a good idea to have the same gauge cable on all of those high amperage cables.

Replace both of those smaller wires with new larger gauge cables with the proper length.

[scottyb]

My 1st thought is all the cables do need to be the same size, smaller cables cannot allow as much amperage to pass a quickly as bigger cables & older cables may offer additional resistance. Flow restriction causes heat.

My 2nd thought is if you are buying the cheap HD F&Rs the so called bigger buss bars are marginally thicker than stock. My HD F&R has custom bars that are not only much thicker but also have increased surface area to dissipate heat better.

[DaveTM]

Did you replace the "whole" F\R switch? You know.....the half that moves along with the other half where the studs are mounted and don't move?

[Sir Nuke]

Originally Posted by smokey tennis shoe

I have a 2004 txt 42 volt. I year old trojan batteries.

This is a western elegante cart on a txt frame. Stock western cart as far as
10" tires. 6 hp motor, has the GE controller with the that small conversion box between the controller and the ITS.

About a month ago, the forward reverse switch melted, the main wire from the controller to the middle stud on the switch. I installed a heavy duty switch with the thick copper bars.

the thing that confuses me is you say the MIDDLE stud.....in red above.....but in the MIDDLE of the F&R Switch is the shaft that the F&R rotates on....not a stud to attach a cable too?

F&R Switch Back.jpg

[smokey tennis shoe]

Heavy duty switch was bought from RedHawk.

All wires are on proper locations. Look at picture and you can see the melted wire, on what I am calling the "middle" stud.

[scottyb]

The RH and Nivel F&Rs are identical. Both fall into the HD category I was describing earlier.

It can sometimes be difficult to put your finger on an F&R failure. Excessive amp draw can be caused by several factors like:
Excess load by weight, terrain, or size of tires.
Poorly operating motor, or extended slow operation.
And sometimes you get an F&R install that is out of adjustment where when the lever hits the F or R stop the contacts are 100% lined up. This greatly reduces the effective contact SIZE.

I think everybody agrees the cables should all be upgraded.

[thehill]

Originally Posted by smokey tennis shoe

Heavy duty switch was bought from RedHawk.

All wires are on proper locations. Look at picture and you can see the melted wire, on what I am calling the "middle" stud.

It looks like one of the wires for your reverse beeper may be arcing with the 'main post' you keep referencing when under power.

If that blue wire is a neutral or ground and the other is a power wire it will start heating up, arcing, and faulting.

[smokey tennis shoe]

Thank you for the replies. I will increase the wire size, and decrease the excessive wire length. After I replace the switch again, I will tighten the crap out the connections and hope for the best.

Thanks everyone

[orangeman6]

What about one of these instead of buying another new rotary switch?
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/reversing-contactors.html

Yes, your cables still need to be the proper size, but no more issues with bad contact connections, and much easier to operate. Also, it makes a cool click sound when you engage it.