Reducer draw.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question so mods feel free to move it if necessary. Have any of you electronic/electrical wizards ever calculated the draw of a reducer when no load is being drawn? I see a crapload of threads where the poster is sure he needs an on off switch on the power side of the reducer to keep it from "draining the batteries" How many milliamps do these unit actually draw "at rest' and how long would it take to have any real impact on battery life or range given the amount of stored energy in today's golf cart packs? My cart with the key on but no draw other than the controller and reducer shows .2 amps [48v] I don't know how much is the controller [Curtis 1268] and how much is the reducer but I'd bet the controller is using the majority of it.

[augiedoggy]

Originally Posted by dundeebarnbuggy

Not sure if this is the right place for this question so mods feel free to move it if necessary. Have any of you electronic/electrical wizards ever calculated the draw of a reducer when no load is being drawn? I see a crapload of threads where the poster is sure he needs an on off switch on the power side of the reducer to keep it from "draining the batteries" How many milliamps do these unit actually draw "at rest' and how long would it take to have any real impact on battery life or range given the amount of stored energy in today's golf cart packs? My cart with the key on but no draw other than the controller and reducer shows .2 amps [48v] I don't know how much is the controller [Curtis 1268] and how much is the reducer but I'd bet the controller is using the majority of it.

I would have to believe that completely depends on the model reducer used... My new Curtis 1205m controller isnt drawing anything until I touch the accelerator pedal but then it draws .02 amps... I measured this today just now on my bench power supply since I have 2 of them. Some of these reducers are likely much more efficient than others though. This is a good question though and I too would be interested in comparing results. I have two different style converters and a dc clamp meter on the way coincidentally. If my math is right though, my 90ah lifepo battery has about 70 actually usable amp hours without damaging the battery and a .2amp draw would kill my battery is 14.5 days or 2 weeks with no other use.

[augiedoggy]

I should add that with regular la batteries the .2amp draw would kill the battery in about 3 weeks sitting in the garage whether its on a charger or not and that because most chargers are designed to not turn back on and top off after they charge the batteries the first time unless you unplug the charge and plug it back in.

I can only imagine how many folks thought their batteries were failing because there range diminished so much even after sitting just a week after plugging in the charger.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

Are you saying that .2 amps will drain one battery or all six? Also that is with the controller /key left on. I 'm wondering how much drain these little reducers actually will cause if wired like the instructions indicate. Also, are you telling me that lead acid chargers don't have a float/maintain function?

[Fairtax4me]

Its usually less than 10mA.
I measured one several years ago out of curiosity and the amp draw seemed negligible compared to what an IQ controller for a Club Car pulls. That was just one of the cheapo 4 wire units that looks like the chernobyl sarcophagus.

Bigger units with a radio + constant, or key switch input may be more or less, haven't measured one of those directly.
Regardless, I put switches on all of the ones I install so that when I flip the Tow/Run I can also flip the reducer switch and cut draw down to as minimal as possible. It also makes it so the reducer doesn't arc when you hook the leads up.

[Ted Burns]

Fairtax, can you point me in the direction of an appropriate kill switch? I am installing a light kit in my Tempo 48 volt that comes with a reducer (4 wire). For obvious reasons I would feel more comfortable if the reducer was not hot all of the time as I will rarely use the lights. They are required by my campground.

I was looking at this https://www.amazon.com/Apeixoto-Batt...07TZ191YL?th=1 but I don't know if it is overkill or not.

Plus real estate under the seat is at a premium.

Thanks in advance.

[Fairtax4me]

Yeah that's not the switch you need at all. That's a battery disconnect switch.

I use these (or similar that I get locally) https://www.amazon.com/TOGGLE-SWITCH...68&sr=1-3&th=1

Install it in the dash and run a fused 48+ wire from the battery pack to the switch, then run a wire from the switch to the reducer 48+input wire. You can mount the reducer above the steering rack on the suspension tower. There's a flat plate there where the factory reducers mount.
Then you can run the 12v out to your light, and have the negatives join together right at the reducer. And run a negative wire from the reducer back to the battery -.

I just run the wires in the channel under the rubber floor mat.

[CP241]

My IQ controller pulls around 200mA if I leave it in the “run” mode. If I flip it to “tow” the. It draws basically zero.

As for the reducer it depends. If you have one with the 5th wire to tie into the key switch so it only turns on when the key is on, it should pull little to nothing with the key off. However if you have a cheap one like mine with 4 wires (48v + and - input, and 12v + and - output) and no control wire for the key switch, it pulls 400-500mA with nothing on or running

I use a toggle switch like fairtax linked above to kill power to my reducer when I don’t need it. I don’t use it very often. I also have a cover on it like this so I don’t accidentally leave it on. https://a.co/d/czVs3tU

[augiedoggy]

Originally Posted by dundeebarnbuggy

Are you saying that .2 amps will drain one battery or all six? Also that is with the controller /key left on. I 'm wondering how much drain these little reducers actually will cause if wired like the instructions indicate. Also, are you telling me that lead acid chargers don't have a float/maintain function?

Do the math... a 200ah lead acid battery pack has 100ah of usable power .. that literally means 100 hours of power at 1amp load... divide that by 5 and you have .2amps... that means you will get about 500hours till the battery is dead.. or only 250hrs till its really at the lowest you can take it without damage. 24 hours in a day.. about 100 hours in four days means battery's totally dead in 20 and really as low as you can go in 10 days days IF you have 200ah batteries.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

Thanks!! That's roughly what I thought but was not sure of my math. This however, is with both the controller and reducer on. With just the [5 wire reducer] connected but not on, I would surmise the timeline would be considerably longer. Not a problem for me however as the cart only sits for 6-8 hours [on the charger] per night.