Super Duty 400/1000 peak solenoid will it make a differance in Scotty's 808 pkg?

[Great white north]

Hi everyone , thought I would put this question out there for people who want to get the max. Out of there 48 volt , 400amp DCX controller upgrade

So I have a TXT PDS cart, have Scotty's 808 pkg. upgrade ,went to 48 volt
I'm lifted with 22 inch tires with jakes long travel front end with 8-6 volt 260amp/hr batt. Pack

I currently have the standard 200/800 peak 48 volt solenoid
The question is will I notice any performance gains by switching to the
Super -duty 400/ 1000 peak amp solenoid ?

All replies welcome . Thanks guys

[scottyb]

You will not notice any seat of the pants performance improvement. The solenoid is an on/off switch for the main power supply. All the amperage to the controller runs through it. This is why it must be sized to the controller properly. The 200/800 amp unit will handle everything the 400a control is going to need. Remember at 48v your amperage needs actually decrease for a given motor task than on 36v.

Having said that - the 400/1000 solenoid is a complete upgrade in internal amperage handling components compared to the 200/800. You will get longer useful life and better amperage handling ability which you may benefit from in the long run in terms of service.

[JohnnieB]

Since you already have a 48V 200A/800A solenoid and a 400A controller, if you went with a 400A/1000A solenoid, I doubt if you would be able to measure much difference between the two with test equipment, much less feel it in the seat of your pants.

I originally went with the 808B package (DCX400 and 400A/1000A solenoid) because I was going to run 36V for the time being and up the pack voltage when I had to replace the batteries. The 200A/800A is voltage specific, but the 48V 400A/1000A solenoid will work at 36V, 42V or 48V, so I wouldn't have to replace the solenoid when I upped the pack voltage.

It was even a better choice than I realized at the time, since I already had the solenoid I needed when I had to replace the motor and controller and installed the DCX500 and D&D I have now.

[JZMOLIK]

do you have a part number or reference to a place to purchase the 400a/1000a solenoid?

[scottyb]

Current sale price is the lowest on the internet for this superduty solenoid...

http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Solenoids.html

[cgtech]

If anyone wants to know if their solenoid is a "bottleneck" in their system, its easy to find out. Just clip your voltmeter leads to the 2 large terminals of their solenoid, then do some vigorous driving (preferably while having a passenger) monitor the voltmeter. Any numbers indicated on the meter indicate a how much voltage is dropped while passing through the solenoid (power that is not getting to your controller at full load, but being converted to heat instead). Any voltage drop indicates inefficiencies. 100% efficient is not likely, but i love to see less than .5v drop in any individual component or system (.5v in the cables, .5v in the solenoid, ect). Try this test on your controller B- & M- terminals to see how good (or bad) your controller is doing its job too. Some stock controllers are REALLY bad, dropping 4 or more volts. If you can get your grand total losses to less than 2.5v at full load, you are doing good IMO. If you are building a big amp hotrod, these numbers are going to be hard to meet (or expensive).

[JohnnieB]

Excluding cryogenically induced superconductivity, there are no prefect conductors, so there will be a voltage drop across every cable, connection and component in a golf cart's drive system. The amount of the voltage drop depends on the amount of current flowing through the cable, connection or component.

The trick is to find out or figure out what the minimum voltage drop is for a given set-up and strive to reach that goal, which is next to impossible, but you can come acceptably close to it. (Funding dictates acceptability. )

For example: A series cart with and AXE4834 (300A) with a 200A solenoid and 4Ga cables and a mechanical F/R switch in good condition.

Roughly 25' of 4Ga cable alone will drop 1.9V with 300A of current.
The AXE4834 will drop 0.9V with 300A passing through it.
The 200A solenoid will drop 0.24V with 300A current flow.
The F/R contacts I would estimate at about 0.5V with 300A of current flow.

That is roughly 3.54V, not counting any imperfections in the way the soldered or crimped terminal lugs are attached to the cables and any imperfections in the bolt on terminals they are connected to.

On the other hand, the minimum voltage drop for my set-up is roughly 1.54V at 300A.
This is due to fewer feet of cable, thicker gauge cable, a more efficient controller (higher ampacity controllers tend to be are more efficient) and there are no high current F/R switch contacts in a Sepex drive.

I agree with everything CG said, but recommend that you figure out what the minimum voltage drop for your specific system is, since the 2.5V goal stated may or may not be reachable with your specific set-up.

[scottyb]

Oh Boy - take cover.