Battery life question

[BigWes]

I'm still really wet behind the ears with golf carts but I bought a cart similar to yours about a month ago and made a few of the upgrades you are considering. So I can give you some insight into what it did for me and how much it cost me. I haven't really tested my range, before or after the upgrades so I can't speak to that. The way I'm beginning to understand things is range is going to depend more on the AH of your battery pack than anything else. Come to find out, mine have less than your standard pack, hence my reason for getting a digital Volt meter.

I have s 96 EZGO TXT that had stock motor, controller, solenoid, FR switch, 22 inch tires with very aggressive tread patterns, and 4 inch lift. I will be using it for deer hunting purposes also.

When I first put the cart under a load it was with 4 grown adults including myself and 2 small kids. The total weight of all of us was probably around 800 lbs. We cruised around my neighborhood for a couple of miles and never left the pavement. The neighborhood elevation changes on the pavement aren't more than 5 feet in a stretch of 50 yards, so almost nothing. But what small elevation changes there were made the cart struggle. The cart had noticeable slow downs. Oh I did have to go in the grass one time for about 20 yards. It was flat, but I still had a noticeable slow down. This was more than a little concerning, knowing how I wanted to use it.

So I got on the interwebs and started doing some learning and found these good folks here. Long story short, I wound up purchasing my upgrades from cartsunlimited. I got the hunting buggy package (500 amp 575 peak amp controller, HD solenoid) HD FR Switch, 2 Ga cables and a digital volt meter. All of this was a shade over $1000. They showed up on Friday and I installed them on Friday night / Sat morning, just in time to load it up, get it out to the lease, and put it to work on Sunday.

My Dad, BIL, and I loaded up everything we would need, stopped at the local academy close to the lease and cleaned them out of all 400 lbs of corn (geez, really, that's all you have ). So there we were (I'm a little nervous as this is my first test since the neighborhood) loading up 400 lbs of corn, 600 lbs of grown men and probably between 100 and 150 lbs of misc. other stuff. (If you are wondering how we got it all on there, just imagine what the Clampets looked like driving into Beverly Hills ). Now, the hills out near Bryan, TX aren't what I would call steep or anything but they are much steeper and longer than my neighborhood and much rougher. Because of the rough nature of the terrain, I wasn't trying to go fast, just trying to get there. I was probably using 1/2 throttle at most the entire time out there. I felt like the cart barely broke a sweat. It never even thought about stalling out. I was highly impressed with the improvement in torque.

The reason for not going to 48 V yet, was budget and priorities. I figured I'd upgrade to 48 volts of battery when my 36 volt pack dies. At that time, I'll have to get a different charger for the bigger pack, and I'll upgrade the motor, if or when it dies. Right now, the dang thing does exactly what I want it to with the changes I made.

[shrpshtr]

Great testimonial BigWes. I appreciate the insight. I think I am about ready to proceed with ordering the necessary equipment. I'll keep y'all posted on how it all turns out.

Thanks again all for the great insight!

shrp

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by BigWes

................I wound up purchasing my upgrades from cartsunlimited. I got the hunting buggy package (500 amp 575 peak amp controller, HD solenoid) HD FR Switch, 2 Ga cables and a digital volt meter. All of this was a shade over $1000.........................

The HD (Heavy-Duty) solenoid is 200A continuous / 800A peak and the coil is voltage specific.
The SD (Super-Duty) solenoid is 400A continuous/800A peak and the coil works with 36V, 42V and 48V.

I believe Scotty includes the SD solenoid in the Hunting Buggy package.

If there is the remotest possibility of upping the pack voltage in the future, get the SD solenoid.

[BigWes]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

The HD (Heavy-Duty) solenoid is 200A continuous / 800A peak and the coil is voltage specific.
The SD (Super-Duty) solenoid is 400A continuous/800A peak and the coil works with 36V, 42V and 48V.

I believe Scotty includes the SD solenoid in the Hunting Buggy package.

If there is the remotest possibility of upping the pack voltage in the future, get the SD solenoid.

You are correct Johnnie. It is the SD solenoid. I am that green. Shees, I don't even know what I have.

[JohnnieB]

The devil is in the details.