An answer to "how far will your pack take you"

[izzybird]

Originally Posted by yurtle

Does your Fluke do peak hold? My cheap eBay shunt/ammeter turned out to be pretty close. Charger says 13 amps here.

It does thankfully, it was almost impossible to watch it and drive..successfully.

[DaveTM]

Well, I finally got to my most favorite hunting spot today to "test" the distance. First, you need to understand that this place is 100 acres and some of the land is very rough. (Was once strip mined and never properly reclaimed.) The owner has reclaimed about 50% of it and that section is nice to ride on. But the rest is a crawl.

The terrain is very hilly as well and according to my phone app, the "ascent" or the difference between the low spot and high spot was 393-ft. That's about a 26 story building, and the "climb" is not a gentle rise.

I was somewhat disappointed in the distance as I traveled only 4.7 miles on a full charge. However, my average speed during this 4.7 mile trip was 4.6mph. I drove pretty much non-stop and the ride was just over an hour long.

Now, on my way "out" as I was going up a rise, the LV tripped and shut the cart down. I looked at the total voltage and it was at 44-V, however the LV tripped because one cell had dipped below 3.1V during a power "munch." Even thought at a rest the cell showed 3.2-V, when I demanded power and it went below the 3.1-V that was it!!

I can't fault the BMS as it's doing what it's suppose to do.

I had the total voltage at rest of 46-V when I decided to take "one more" go around and see how far I could get. Well.....I found out pretty quick!! Fortunately I wasn't that far from my truck....so with 4 rest stops along the way (walking with my cane....and that's not at all fast) I made it back. I drove the truck in and winched the cart onto the truck. Reason #68 that I prefer a separate 12-V Marine type battery to run the winch's.

So, I'm considering adding another 7 modules.....but OTOH I don't drive the cart 4.5 miles when I go hunting. So, I need to think about that. It's possible for me to just toss my Honda 2000i generator in the truck and when I'm chowing on a sandwich have the cart re-charge. But I think that would be the exception of any given day.....not the rule.

So, that's the report. Initially I was somewhat disappointed, but upon further thinking....I may be getting what I can for the terrain involved, and my average speed.

[NCPW]

What were you getting with the 8- 6 volt FLA batteries you previously had?

[DaveTM]

When my 8 6V T-105's were brand new, I got 12 miles on a warm 70 degree summer day. However, the terrain was gentle rolling hills and all fine gravel or paved road.

I never "pushed" the FA batteries on the 100 acres to see "how far." I didn't have a need to.

[NCPW]

I think for the type of terrain you're traveling, you're right on point. Your FLA pack probably would've been very similar in distance under the same circumstances.

But, nothing wrong with adding 7 more modules. I'd rather have too much distance than not enough. I thinking of maybe doing the same eventually just for that reason even though I'm pretty satisfied with the distances I've gone so far.

[BBBHC]

Very good information DaveTM! Thank you for sharing!

[yurtle]

My eight T-105s are starting to show their age, but I got nine years out of my Exides, so

https://i.imgur.com/PoG82bu.gif

[DaveTM]

Take today for example. I do a weekly CMP shoot at my local gun club and we shoot at 200 yards. 4 sets of shooting, then go down, score your shoot, tape up the holes and back to the bench. So, that's (a minimum) of 400 yards each trip, 4 trips for 1,600 yards. Theres like 1,850 yards in a mile. The terrain is flat and very smooth. My voltage went from 57.4 to 56.2 for my "1" mile run. If you do that math to go from 57 to 42 in theory it would be almost 15 miles. But again.....flat smooth terrain.

There are not many flat smooth places in Pennsylvania. And the roads have more potholes than the woods!!!

[yurtle]

Your stop and go example is harder on batteries than just going a distance. Big controller and a heavy foot with no regen burns a lot of kW/mi.

[DaveTM]

BTW, here's a pic of the app I have on my phone that gives me the distance data. It also provides "energy burned in cal's" but that would be a bike rider.