Wiring Problem?

[kbj43]

I have a 48V 2002 Club Car that I have upgraded with a full light kit with signals and brake lights. I also installed a radio and everything worked fine until I turned the lights on. When I turn the lights on the radio resets.

The kit came with a prewired harness and fuse panel. I ran the power for the radio to this fuse panel. Also I installed a voltage reducer.

Any ideas what would cause the radio to reset when the lights come on?

Thanks

[golfcarfixer]

You need a voltage converter and not a reducer,its only good for lights.

[jakesnake27]

Originally Posted by golfcarfixer

You need a voltage converter and not a reducer,its only good for lights.

This has been debated on here before, but I believe a converter switches AC to DC (110v to 12v), while a reducer takes a higher DC voltage and reduces it (i.e. 48v to 12v).

kbj43, what reducer do you have? It sounds like it does not have enough amperage for what you are using it for.

[mrgolf]

Just put a diode in the pos wire to the radio. The lights are pulling power from everything on the power supply when they power up. A diode will hold the voltage to the radio for the split second the lights come on. If the diode alone does not do the job you may need a cap across neg and pos on the radio power wires.

Clear as mudd.

[scooterman]

Originally Posted by jakesnake27

This has been debated on here before, but I believe a converter switches AC to DC (110v to 12v), while a reducer takes a higher DC voltage and reduces it (i.e. 48v to 12v).

kbj43, what reducer do you have? It sounds like it does not have enough amperage for what you are using it for.

Guess it all depends on how you look at it, convert AC to DC or Convert 48 volts to 24 volts, the is no defined terminology for this matter that is the problem. Now a reducer is a reducer, it can reduce any given range voltage and a varied amperage rating accordingly so where's the argument LOL

[kbj43]

Scooterman,

It's a 20amp reducer, I only have the radio and lights hooked up. I thought 20amp would be enough.

[scooterman]

Originally Posted by kbj43

Scooterman,

It's a 20amp reducer, I only have the radio and lights hooked up. I thought 20amp would be enough.

Should be but the factors are the same, how much power are you using for the lights and radio? Does the radio have an amplifier, if so how big, added lights other than the traditional?
If your talking the regular lights and a basic radio with no high end options etc most likely you're ok but that is a very generalized answer. What kind of reducer did you install, do you have a website I can look at, is it indeed hooked up correctly?

[Sergio]

Halogen lights will draw 10 to 15 times their operating current when the filament is cold.

Your 110w headlights (55w x 2) will draw close to 1000w for a few milliseconds until the filaments are hot.

Your converter does not appear to be able to regulate the voltage under these conditions.

A few options:

1) Get LED headlights.
2) Get a better converter.
3) Add a car audio capacitor.
4) Add a NTC or Inrush Current Limiting Thermistor in series with the headlights.
5) Forget about radio presets.