BAttery cables very warm.Club car 2002ds

[jimbo5775]

Just installed new Admiral A2 motor and breaking it in. All looks good except the Battery cables are extremely warm. The leads to Motor from the Controller are cool as is the Ground to battery, just the Positive cable and the cables between batteries are heating up. Is this common?

[JohnnieB]

Any high current cable that gets warmer than the others needs to be repaired or replaced.

If all high current cables are getting more than about 10°F above ambient, they are too small and the entire set needs to be replaced with a thicker gauge.

4Ga is usually adequate for controllers <400A and 2Ga should be used for controllers >400A.

[jimbo5775]

I am using # 2 Welding lead cable which I thought would be good. Connectors not soldered just crimped.

[Gregorio]

Could be corrosion wicking up through the cable ends or even a poor connection at the battery terminal. How old are they? When was the last time you cleaned the terminals?

[jimbo5775]

All are fresh and I keep protector on the connectors. Thinking of purchasing a set. I thought I was OK with the #2 cable with crimped Panduit electrical connectors on them.

[Gregorio]

If they are the open end style crimps like the factory, I am not a fan. Closed ends with water tight heat shrink will give you best protection from corrosion wicking up the cable.

Even though it sounds like you are diligent in your battery cable care, the quickest and easiest thing to try is remove, inspect and clean them. I hope that is all it is.

[JohnnieB]

The main positive cable, the main negative cable and the cables connecting the batteries together all have the same current flow through them, so their temperature rises ought to be roughly the same.

The Ohms/foot is linear, so the longer cables will have proportionally more resistance and generate more total heat, but that is effectively offset by the longer length have more heat dissipating area, so they all stay pretty close to the same temperature unless something is wrong.

Just like it is difficult to solder on cable lugs properly, it is also difficult to crimp them properly and for the best results, crimp and solder. See attached.

[jimbo5775]

Thanks looks like I need to make some new cables with solder this time.

[yurtle]

I'm assuming you mean °F, not °C. Since your only punctuation seems to be commas, and no caps, we just need to be sure. You did finish with a period.

Sorry, but some of us old farts...

[Gregorio]

Originally Posted by jaacee44

just curious, you fellows are talking about heat,, playing with my temp gun and shot 48 volt mtr, after a ride 151 degree,s don,t think thats really much,, live in fl, and its 95 out what do they normaly run as said just curious, have a brother in Mullins if you know where that is.

With my Lithium setup, cables and controller are never more than 3-5F over ambient. The motor, not so much. It gets to 120-130F.