Controller sealing cover bolts

[trig123]

I have a 2007 ezgo series cart that I broke off one of the bolts that hold sealing cover that protects the controller and solenoid. I knew better but I did it anyway. They were corroded pretty bad which I assume is normal on these carts but I am not much of a sparky person.
I don't want water to get into this area . Everything works fine on cart but I want to get this broke off bolt out . The others will also break I am sure as they are tight.
I have the part ( think it is called a heat sink ? ) from another cart that I am parting out. No bolts broke on it. How much trouble is these to swap or would be better to just drill all the way through and put nut on back ? I want to change all these battery cables to 4 g and look what I did Now I wish I would have just let it be but I have these 4 gauge wires and wanted them plus all the battery cables are terrible so changing them all.
I am new to these sparky carts so hang with me until I learn more. I am sure I am not the only person who has broke one of these bolts. I did spray it but it didn't help

[Sir Nuke]

I had the same problem with one of the hold down bolts on my series carts heat sink when I rebuilt mine years ago.....IF the one on your cart is one of the two on the front, then I would just drill it through, seeing as how there is plenty of material on the "foot" and just put a bolt/nut on. but you made mention that the others were tight as well, and most likely will break if you attempt to remove them.

personally.....seeing as how you have another heat sink.....replace it.....and make sure all the threads are in good shape and when you reinstall it, ENSURE you use sine good anti-seize lube so this won't happen the next time.

[trig123]

Well, on the series cart I broke all of them , even the ones where it mounts to cart.
Must have been outside exposed to the moisture. I tried penetrating oil but that was of no help. Didn't want to use a torch for fear of catching it on fire
The PDS cart which by the way is the same year model TXT all the bolts came right out.
This is my first time removing one of these. I see a pad where controller sits. I assume that is like a heat sink on a computer.
I will just use the aluminum mount off the parted out PDS cart. If I decide to get it going later I can always drill these bolts out or just order a new one. Thanks for the help.

[JohnnieB]

Remove the thermal pad and smear some thermal grease on the heatsink to thermally couple the controller to the heatsink.

The thermal pad is a pain to remove, but once the controller has been removed, it not long will work as well as it had the first time it was used.

I took my heatsink out and used a wire wheel on a bench grinder to get rid of the pad.

No need for the expensive thermal paste used for CPU chips, the thermal grease I used was less than $3.00 an ounce.

[trig123]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Remove the thermal pad and smear some thermal grease on the heatsink to thermally couple the controller to the heatsink.

The thermal pad is a pain to remove, but once the controller has been removed, it not long will work as well as it had the first time it was used.

I took my heatsink out and used a wire wheel on a bench grinder to get rid of the pad.

No need for the expensive thermal paste used for CPU chips, the thermal grease I used was less than $3.00 an ounce.

I don't have a clue where to find this ? other than I what I already got for CPU's
I have some Arctic Silver that I will probably never use as I don't build computers anymore. Do I use it just like I do with a CPU ? A little dab right in the middle and let it spread when I tighten the four bolts ? or smear it all around ?
I got a wire wheel that I can remove this from the heat sink I am installing with and yes they were a pain to remove from a computer heat sink. Not sure if I have enough to cover this entire thing though. Maybe two small tubes left.
I wonder how many people actually do this JohnnieB ? when they replace the controller . You think I have to do this ? Hot do these things get ? as the pad looks good on the heat sink I am using. but I know about those computer CPU pads. The gaming computers I use to build would generate some serious heat, especially those AMD's

Would it be worth upgrading the stock series controller since I got it off ? not planning putting a lift kit ( I don't think anyway) on it but it does have the rear flip seat on it . I sort of like these sparkle carts. Always been a gas person.

Also to note on the controller heat sink I removed from the PDS cart I guess I am parting out, well it was covered and caked with about four inches of dried mud / dirt. Could have been why all the problem they had with this cart which I was told it sit in a shop for months. I was sort of wanting a PDS cart but it looks like the cost for both motor and controller would be too much and I already have this series cart that had no batteries. I will keep it mostly together just in case I decide later to get it going though.

[cgtech]

Please dont waste your Arctic silver on this.... that weather cover is really not too critical at all. Most motor controller upgrades dont even fit under that cover anyway...

The stock controller is pretty pathetic, and as soon as it starts its inevitable downward spiral, it'll get replaced anyway.

Your plans guarantee a short life for the stock controller. And, the heatsink will serve only as a "mounting bracket" for the much better upgrade coming soon. Upgrade can manage its heat without the heatsink. Like I said, the heatsink will only be a "mounting bracket" soon. And, all the holes can be repaired when the bracket is out.

[trig123]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Please dont waste your Arctic silver on this.... that weather cover is really not too critical at all. Most motor controller upgrades dont even fit under that cover anyway...

The stock controller is pretty pathetic, and as soon as it starts its inevitable downward spiral, it'll get replaced anyway.

Your plans guarantee a short life for the stock controller. And, the heatsink will serve only as a "mounting bracket" for the much better upgrade coming soon. Upgrade can manage its heat without the heatsink. Like I said, the heatsink will only be a "mounting bracket" soon. And, all the holes can be repaired when the bracket is out.

My original plan was to just remove the cover and replace the one battery cable that had been cut . I bought this cart without batteries and cables . Someone just cut the positive cable going to solenoid down where it comes out of cover.
I pieced a cable to the cut one to make sure it would run. I drove the cart and it was good. Batteries I removed from cart I am parting out are still good.
I then started to remove the plastic cover to get to solenoid and replace that one positive cable. That's when the cover bolts started breaking. I didn't want to leave this cover off .

I have this other heat sink/bracket that I removed from another cart without breaking any bolts and that's the one I was planning on using. JohniieB suggested I use some sort of heat sink compound even though the pad looks fine on the replacement.
Why does my plan guarantee a short life on the stock controller ?
By the way I have plenty of artic silver that will never get used but I don't have to use it . The pad looks good enough but only going by what was suggested by JohnnieB .
I don't plan on drilling any bolts out of the one I removed as I probably will never use it again. The one from the parted out cart is fine with no bolts broke and pad looks prefect.
Please explain to me on what I am doing is not going to work very long ? This cart will be used by my granddaughter riding in my back yard so I really don't see any need for upgrades on it unless something breaks.

[cgtech]

Sorry, I was going off the size of the tires in your picture. But in the post you made no mention of larger tires. You know what they say about the word "assume".. lol. On stock size tires, you'll be fine.

Since you got so much Arctic silver laying around..... I still build PCs...

[JohnnieB]

I live in a hilly area and my stock PDS controller would go into thermal cutback (Error code 2-3) occasionally after I installed 2Ga cables. I was going to try running it without the environmental cover to see if that would help and I spotted a corner of the thermal pad sticking out from the side of the controller. (See attached photo)

The thermal pad was crooked and had air bubbles between it and the heatsink, so it was not transferring heat as effectively as it should have and I removed the pad, replacing it with some relatively inexpensive thermal grease. Stock PDS controller never went into thermal cutback after that.

Used some thermal grease when I upgraded to a DCX-400, but when I upgraded to an XCT48400-PDS, I mounted it on a clean heatsink.

As for applying the thermal grease, I spread a thin layer on both heatsink and controller with a single edged razor blade.

-------------

If your cart has taller than stock tires or a rear seat, a stock controller will be overworked.

[cgtech]

Wow, that thermal pad was installed by a toddler? That's the worst I have seen.