Melted cables on motor

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by hitechcobra

I found this 48v motor on Craigslist, would it work? What is a good controller?

No, or at least not without completely replacing the cart's wiring harness and some other $tuff.
Your cart has a series drive system and the motor pictured is for a Sepex drive system.


The top speed of a stock series drive 1996 cart is about 14MPH and the bad cables are holding it back, but there may be other factors also. Bad bearings, underinflated tires, dragging brake shoes, etc.


Only three ways to speed up a series drive.
1. Increase battery pack voltage. (Ups both speed and torque)
2. Numerically decrease the final drive ratio. (Increases speed, but decreases torque)
3. High speed motor. Higher speed motors tend to have lower torque, but there are motors in longer cases that have higher speed and stock or better torque)

The trick is to first figure out what the final goal for the cart is and then build towards that goal.

[hitechcobra]

I’m in flatlands Florida so definitely would go for speed. Will the motor I have work or should I upgrade everything to 48 bolts with a new motor, controller?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by orangeman6

A question that will maybe help the OP, and for my own curiosity: The sticker on that motor says 2350 rpm. Is that the max you can spin that motor? If so, that’s going to be awfully slow, correct?

No, 2350 is not the max RPM. It is the RPM the motor was rated at.
Max RPM depends on how high of a voltage is applied to the armature along with how far the field is weakened vs the mechanical load imposed on the output shaft.

2350 is the RPM at which the motor's output will be 2.8kW (about 3.75HP) with 48V applied to the armature, which draws 74A with that voltage applied, when the field is being excited with 13.5A of field current.

In lieu of a specific value from the motor manufacturer, a safe max RPM for DC traction motors is 6000RPM, but it doesn't hurt to spin them a little faster (6500 or so) when they are in good health.

[Sideways]

You can (as alot of us have) upgrade to 48v without changing the motor.
Scotty will not steer you wrong.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by hitechcobra

I’m in flatlands Florida so definitely would go for speed. Will the motor I have work or should I upgrade everything to 48 bolts with a new motor, controller?

If the motor runs, it should be the last thing upgraded, if it needs to be upgraded.

Upgrade the cables, controller and solenoid first, and maybe the mechanical F/R switch to a reversing contactor.

After you get the tires you want on the cart, you can better assess what motor is needed.

[LukeL]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

If the motor runs, it should be the last thing upgraded, if it needs to be upgraded.

Very much agree.

[fsu1tm]

Just to give hitechcobra an idea:

My original cart was a 36V 1990 CC DS. It's top speed was about 8MPH. It would never stop though and would climb any hill. Just real slow.

I upgraded my cart to 2ga cables, HD F/R contactor, 400A solenoid, and 500A Alltrax controller (a ScottyB kit). With this upgrade, my speed went to 14 MPH.

When my 36V batteries went out, I bypassed going to 48V batteries and instead went to a 58.4V lithium setup. I'm still running my original 36V motor and my speed has increased to 23-24 MPH.

In my setup, both my speed and torque greatly increased.

Of course, all of this cost $$$. Do your research on here and determine what your budget will allow.

[orangeman6]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

No, 2350 is not the max RPM. It is the RPM the motor was rated at.
Max RPM depends on how high of a voltage is applied to the armature along with how far the field is weakened vs the mechanical load imposed on the output shaft.

2350 is the RPM at which the motor's output will be 2.8kW (about 3.75HP) with 48V applied to the armature, which draws 74A with that voltage applied, when the field is being excited with 13.5A of field current.

In lieu of a specific value from the motor manufacturer, a safe max RPM for DC traction motors is 6000RPM, but it doesn't hurt to spin them a little faster (6500 or so) when they are in good health.

Johnnieb, thanks for taking the time to provide, as usual, an excellent explanation.

[hitechcobra]

Where do I get this:
“2ga cables, HD F/R contactor, 400A solenoid, and 500A Alltrax controller (a ScottyB kit)”?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by hitechcobra

Where do I get this:
“2ga cables, HD F/R contactor, 400A solenoid, and 500A Alltrax controller (a ScottyB kit)”?

https://www.cartsunlimited.net/