2005 PDS Cart ??

[busman9]

My friend has bought a 2005 Ezgo PDS cart,It seems to lack power pulling an incline. We have installed the "steep hill" wire and it still lacks power pulling an incline. The battery pack voltage is 37.8 12 hrs after charging. My other carts are series carts so I am at a lose of what to check or is this the nature of the cart? Any advise is welcome! Thanks

[Great white north]

If those batts. Are the original they are well over due on lifespan
The batt voltage is just a little over 70% SOC what type of charger
do you have ? How old are the batts ? They should be at 100% SOC
Also there is a certain procedure when changing speed modes on a PDS
Did you follow correct procedures , switch in tow ? Etc
Cheers !

[JohnnieB]

The difference between the four PDS modes, (All Terrain, Steep Hill, Mild Hill and Freedom) is what the top speed is limited to (motor RPM limit) and amount of Regen Braking.
The torque is the same in all modes.

Because the controller throttles back when the max motor RPM for the mode is reached, it doesn't start slowing on milder inclines as quickly as series carts do.
When the motor RPM begin decreasing, the controller automatically throttles up and the cart doesn't start slowing until the controller's max Amps limit is reached.

On steeper inclines, this subtle difference isn't noticeable and series carts can climb steeper kills because they have more torque.

In stock form, my PDS would routinely climb 30° inclines.
Not very fast, of course, but it wasn't exactly creeping along either. Probably about 7 or 8 MPH and did the same in both Mild Hill and Freedom modes.

With a good set of batteries and good cables (4Ga minimum), your friend's cart should be able to do the same, unless it has tires taller than 18" installed.
If so, the torque will be less.

[busman9]

Johnnie,The local cart guy here in Illinois sells nothing but PDS carts for hunting. How does these machines survive in the hunting woods? He does not change controllers,just new batteries.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by busman9

Johnnie,The local cart guy here in Illinois sells nothing but PDS carts for hunting. How does these machines survive in the hunting woods? He does not change controllers,just new batteries.

Hunting is a very generic term.
PDS carts don't tolerate creeping through the woods and creeping up hills quite as well as series carts. (Motor heat issue.)
Other than that, they both make fine hunting carts and both need some upgrades if taller than stock height tires are going to be installed.

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Please note that when I said I was routinely climbing a 30° incline in a stock PDS cart, I forgot to mention that is with 500 pounds of passangers onboard.
(Well almost stock, 2Ga cables and 18.3" tires.)
That is over twice the incline recommended by EZGO. See attachments.

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Basically, a PDS cart has a high speed motor and a series cart has a high torque motor.
Put a 400A Sepex controller that doesn't limit motor RPMs in an otherwise stock PDS and its top speed will be in the low to mid 20's, plus more torque.
Put a 400A Series controller in an otherwise stock series cart and will still have the same 12-14MPH speed top speed it did with the stock controller, plus more torque.

As long as you don't exceed the capabilities and limitations of the cart, they can be used for most anything.