92 CC DS gas, convert to lithium electric rebuild thread

[DaveTM]

Volt is right. There is a diminished supply in the colder temps. No different than the LA batteries I use to run.

[BBBHC]

Originally Posted by DaveTM

I dunno if you need to heat the batteries. Your in the same climate that I am (Pittsburgh Pa) and I've not had any issues running at temps in the low to mid 20's. (Just keep the windshield up or the face freezes even at 5mph!!)

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

The battery needs to be protected from operating or charging when it's temp is below freezing. (32F, 0C) Performance will drop way off at colder temps but you should not damage the battery operating at 20 deg F. Most Electric cars have to operate in very cold and very hot temperatures so they have battery heaters / coolers. (and fancy liquid cooling systems to transfer heat to / from the batteries) Leaf is an exception - at least the older ones.

Well that's good information! I was under the impression that these batteries should not be charged or discharged at or below freezing.

I'll give some more thought to this before diving in. Might save myself some frustration and coin, as I obviously wont be wanting to drive the buggy much in cold weather. However, there will be times that I will need to use it and wont want to have to worry about doing damage. I'll do some more research and update. Anyone with ideas/information, please feel free to share!

[Sergio]

If it is really cold You can run the headlights for about 5 minutes before running the cart.

That should allow for the Lithium batteries to warm up slowly before placing a large load on them.

[BBBHC]

Originally Posted by Sergio

If it is really cold You can run the headlights for about 5 minutes before running the cart.

That should allow for the Lithium batteries to warm up slowly before placing a large load on them.

Well that would certainly be an easier fix to the problem. I currently do not have any accessories on it.

I was intending to do a separate 12v battery for any and all accessories, since I am going to have a winch, just have not added it yet.

I have an LED light bar. If I get a converter, would it draw enough current to warm the batteries? Here is a link to the light bar I got from site sponsor eCartParts.com. https://www.ecartparts.com/golf-cart...6w-2340-lumens

[Volt_Ampere]

My guess is that a light bar (LED) would not draw enough current to make a difference in battery temp even over a long time. Self heating is not a good idea to warm the pack anyway. What I would do would be to put a heating element near the battery and run it off house power if you have that handy. I used to use a 100W lamp to heat the engine case on my motorcycle back in the day so that I could get it started in the cold weather.

[Sergio]

Originally Posted by Volt_Ampere

My guess is that a light bar (LED) would not draw enough current to make a difference in battery temp even over a long time. Self heating is not a good idea to warm the pack anyway. What I would do would be to put a heating element near the battery and run it off house power if you have that handy. I used to use a 100W lamp to heat the engine case on my motorcycle back in the day so that I could get it started in the cold weather.

I agree that light bar may not provide enough of a load to warm up the battery on a reasonable time frame, but I don't agree on the "self heating" objection.

If you do a simple google search you will find lots of articles from different EV resources that recommend exactly that.

While having a battery heating package and always parking your EV where a charger port is available (so the battery heater can actually work) would be best but not realistic for everyone.

[MCJEFE]

I've used 120v thermostat cubes with one or two 150w incandescent bulbs with cheap aluminum reflectors in the engine compartment of boats and jetskis before. Once the temp drops below the set point the lights turn on then once it warms up to the release temp it turns off. They're available in different temps. It seems to be a low tech solution and works great as long as its out of the wind and doesn't get stupid cold, just seal up any big gaps with a rag to keep the heat in. Adjust the wattage as necessary and use two bulbs if you want some redundancy.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sergio]

Maybe I misunderstood the question, I thought it was about parking the cart in freezing temperatures when no utility power is available, like hunting, etc.

I think if I lived in cold climate something like this may be a better option to wrap around the pack permanently and just have it plugged inside the battery compartment with the charger during winter:

https://www.amazon.com/Frost-King-HC...Q8U/ref=sr_1_2

[BBBHC]

I like these ideas, thank you for sharing them!

[QUOTE=Sergio;1671055]Maybe I misunderstood the question, I thought it was about parking the cart in freezing temperatures when no utility power is available, like hunting, etc.

No, you understood my question, but I like seeing these ideas for the scenario where utility power is available. Since I don't have my property with acreage yet, this could be a simple and inexpensive fix for now. Then when I get my acreage, and will potentially need to use the buggy in cold weather, I could find a solution to heat the battery with it's own power.

Since I live in an area that is not GC friendly, I was going to use the winter season as the time to find the solution and install it. So I'm still interested in figuring out a solution.

[BBBHC]

Doing the "brake swap and flip".

I decided to do the hard part first, then I'll tackle the u-bolts and brake cable bracket/spring retaining plates.

Those C-clips were a bit of pain, but not too bad...

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