retrofit '86 series-wound motor from resistor-controller to...?

[808Pants]

I've got the bones of an '86 Marathon to do, well, something with, and I am not liking the looks & parts-availability of the crusty old resistor/controller components. I do believe the old setup I've got would work as well as might have been expected for being 25 years old, but I prefer the idea of upgrading if possible and advisable. I don't know enough about controllers yet to know if this is even possible - seems at least some of them are built for more sophisticated motors, i.e. separately-excited, etc.

So:
Are controllers applicable to series-wound motors?
If so, are there any hands-down-favorite controllers to use?
Do any of those controllers offer 12V aux output, or is that always left to a separate convertor?

Thanks - Dave

[JohnnieB]

Welcome to BGW!

Resistor carts have a series wound motor. If you replace the resistor box and throttle assembly with an electronic speed control and matching throttle, you end up with what is commonly referred to as a Marathon Controller Cart, which is known as a series cart in later models.

There are upgrade kits available. Such as:
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Scotty...rsion_Kit.html

Controllers are applicable to all types of electrical motors, but they have to match up with the motor type. (Series wound, Shunt wound, AC and PM to name just a few)

I'll skip the one about which is the favorite controller and just say, figure out what you want the end result to be and your choice depends on your wants vs available cash.

Controllers control current flow to the motor and have no auxiliary outputs.
For 12V, use a DC to DC converter, or a separate 12V battery, or tap into the main battery pack at 12V. the first two being preferred over the last one.

Hope this helps.

[808Pants]

Thanks, JohnnieB - that's pretty much what I needed to know.

More recently than the EZ-Go purchase, I picked up a slightly-abused Club Car, also knowing nothing about details until I started poking around a bit to get it working again. The quality of construction on the Club Car is hugely better - from what I have seen, there's little or no steel on the Club Car (all aluminum, vs my rust-out EZ-Go, though I should also mention the Club Car is 13 years younger)...anyway, I'm thinking a low-buck conversion might be all I'd want to do with the old EZ-Go. I've spent too much time on silk-purse-from-sow's-ear projects - or at least right now it seems like I'm drowning in them. For something I might want to keep/modify for the longer term, it seems to me like another Club Car (or...?) would be a better platform to modify. Basic advice appreciated there.

--Dave

[JohnnieB]

I'm biased towards E-Z-GO because I own one, but a couple neighbors have got Club Cars and I'm not overly impressed with them from a DIY standpoint.

If you plan to have a dealer $ervice it, I suppose it they would be okay, but I've been able to find everything I need (Manuals, technical info) to maintain my cart on-line and I can't say same about Club Cars.

BTW - The TXT (plastic body) Ezgo carts that came out in 1996, would be a better comparison that the earlier metal bodied ones.

What platform to use, depends on what you want to do. IN general terms, for Off-road stuff, go with a series cart (Series wound motor) for street use, go with a shunt wound motor (PDS). However, both types have been used for both purposes.

Basically, decide what you want the end results to be and work backwards.