Dcs solenoid not releasing

[Price_l]

I’ve got a dcs cart that’s been converted to 48v. It has alltrax 400amp controller and SW180 solenoid. Out of no where the solenoid will only release/de energize when I turn the key off for a few minutes. Basically I can get on the cart, turn the key, press the pedal to go forward or reverse and the solenoid will click and cart will move. But then the solenoid won’t de energize until I turn the key off. What would be causing this? Is the solenoid bad, bad resistors installed on solenoid or is something in the controller making it do this? I plugged the controller up to my laptop to verify throttle position was at 0% when pedal was released. Any help would be appreciated.

[Volt_Ampere]

Your laptop app should show if the Alltrax is energizing the solenoid and what other inputs it has that could cause this. Throttle at zero is one input. Look at motor RPM input also.

[Price_l]

I checked all other inputs. Everything looks normal. The cart still runs but only for about 15-20 minutes. It’ll seem like it’s dying but voltage still good. Let it sit 15 min and it’ll work again for a little while.

[JohnnieB]

The pedal switch tells the controller to energize/de-energize the solenoid and 0% throttle does not mean the pedal switch contacts are open.

On the Toolkit monitor screen (or data log) the pedal switch box is called footswitch and the solenoid box is called relay status.

Verify relay status goes from 1 to 0 when footswitch goes from 1 to 0.

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Not sure why it only runs for 20 minutes, but getting the solenoid working right might clear that issue also.

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BTW: The motor in the DCS version of a sepex drive system does not have a speed sensor, so motor RPM is not available to the controller.

[Price_l]

Here’s what’s going on in the toolkit. Please excuse the low voltage. Cart hasn’t been plugged in lately. Batteries need replaced also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNfhxvNA38

[Volt_Ampere]

Interesting. Good data. I would send this log to Alltrax and ask them what's up. It does look to me like it's the controller that is at fault. It should release the solenoid if everything else working. Your switch and throttle inputs look good. Not sure how it works without a speed sensor. My carts both have a speed sensor and the solenoid does not drop out until the cart stops for a few seconds. If I roll the cart, the solenoid energizes without touching the pedal. Without a speed sensor, I imagine that it either monitors motor BEMF or just has a timer to determine when to open the solenoid.