Do I need a voltage reducer guys?

[dece1416]

I thought about that, but thats not in my nature. I want to be proud of this thing and do it all myself. I'll figure it out one way or another; alot of really good info in this forum. I'm sure it will make more sense when i actually start doing with the parts and wires in front of me.

Originally Posted by Stevegrmich

. . . it is not a daunting task, but if you feel overwhelmed, maybe you should have someone do it for you . . .

[Stevegrmich]

Originally Posted by dece1416

I thought about that, but thats not in my nature. I want to be proud of this thing and do it all myself. I'll figure it out one way or another; alot of really good info in this forum. I'm sure it will make more sense when i actually start doing with the parts and wires in front of me.

. . . yep . . . I recommend getting a reducer that also has what they call a "trigger" wire . . . it gets wired to cold side of key switch and only turns on the reducer when the key is in the "on" position . . .

[dece1416]

Ok..Thanks Steve

Originally Posted by Stevegrmich

. . . yep . . . I recommend getting a reducer that also has what they call a "trigger" wire . . . it gets wired to cold side of key switch and only turns on the reducer when the key is in the "on" position . . .

[Speedchaser]

Or if you use yours like me, for golf, and rarely use the accessories like lights or stereo, then hook it up to a separate switch (i used a run tow switch). That way the converter is on only when you need it.

[dece1416]

I'm obviously very new with carts and customizing. Whats the reason for a converter if I'm going to go with a separate aux battery just connected to the lights? Should only be 12 volts feeding the lights from this aux battery.

Originally Posted by Speedchaser

Or if you use yours like me, for golf, and rarely use the accessories like lights or stereo, then hook it up to a separate switch (i used a run tow switch). That way the converter is on only when you need it.

[Melonbuster]

Originally Posted by dece1416

I thought about that, but thats not in my nature. I want to be proud of this thing and do it all myself. I'll figure it out one way or another; alot of really good info in this forum. I'm sure it will make more sense when i actually start doing with the parts and wires in front of me.

Deuce-deuce-deuce.....
If you really want to be proud of your cart, which by the picture is a really nice cart, then please PLEASE do not cut out the tray in the dash and mount a battery in it. I promise you will not be proud of it. I also promise that what you want to accomplish is very easy and you can do it. Buy a 48/36volt to 12volt converter/reducer from scottyb. It will come with very good instructions and diagrams. When you have possession of it, if you still can't get it done then call Scottyb and he will help you because he is awesome.

[ByronRACE]

If your lights use regular halogen bulbs, you can buy the appropriate voltage bulb for the light and run it on the full pack voltage (24, 36, 48, etc...).

If you want to go with modern LED technology, you can buy a pair of LED lights which can commonly handle any input voltage from 10 to 30 volts, then wire them in series like this...

POS-----5AFUSE----SWITCH-----LIGHT1-----LIGHT2------NEG

As long as your battery pack isn't over 48V, it'll work perfectly. Each of the lights will see half the supply voltage when wired in series as shown. The other bonus is that you'll draw less than 2 amps because they're LEDs, and you'll get the exact same brightness regardless of voltage too.

I have these lamps on my 36V cart; wired as described. Each bulb sees 16-20V depending on state of charge. They work perfectly. They don't reach as far as a pair of 55W halogens obviously, but I don't care...I just need to see what I'm about to run in to at 15mph, or what I'm working on when I get there.

Tuff LED Lights 2 X 4" Inch Square 27watt LED Work Lamp Light 1550 Lumen, Off Road, Atv, Utv, Polaris Ranger : Amazon.com : Automotive

Tuff LED Lights 2 X 4" Inch Square 27watt LED Work Lamp Light 1550 Lumen, Off Road, Atv, Utv, Polaris Ranger : Amazon.com : Automotive

[TopNotchCarts]

Yes

[dece1416]

tHanks melon.. good advise! I'm going to buy the reducer.

Originally Posted by Melonbuster

Deuce-deuce-deuce.....
If you really want to be proud of your cart, which by the picture is a really nice cart, then please PLEASE do not cut out the tray in the dash and mount a battery in it. I promise you will not be proud of it. I also promise that what you want to accomplish is very easy and you can do it. Buy a 48/36volt to 12volt converter/reducer from scottyb. It will come with very good instructions and diagrams. When you have possession of it, if you still can't get it done then call Scottyb and he will help you because he is awesome.

[ByronRACE]

Originally Posted by ByronRACE

If your lights use regular halogen bulbs, you can buy the appropriate voltage bulb for the light and run it on the full pack voltage (24, 36, 48, etc...).

If you want to go with modern LED technology, you can buy a pair of LED lights which can commonly handle any input voltage from 10 to 30 volts, then wire them in series like this...

POS-----5AFUSE----SWITCH-----LIGHT1-----LIGHT2------NEG

As long as your battery pack isn't over 48V, it'll work perfectly. Each of the lights will see half the supply voltage when wired in series as shown. The other bonus is that you'll draw less than 2 amps because they're LEDs, and you'll get the exact same brightness regardless of voltage too.

I have these lamps on my 36V cart; wired as described. Each bulb sees 16-20V depending on state of charge. They work perfectly. They don't reach as far as a pair of 55W halogens obviously, but I don't care...I just need to see what I'm about to run in to at 15mph, or what I'm working on when I get there.

Tuff LED Lights 2 X 4" Inch Square 27watt LED Work Lamp Light 1550 Lumen, Off Road, Atv, Utv, Polaris Ranger : Amazon.com : Automotive

The other evening I noticed that one of my headlights was brighter than the other, so I checked into it and discovered that these LED lamps wired in series as described were not dropping the same voltage across the lamp anymore. Apparently they are more complicated internally than originally anticipated. To solve this problem, I wired them in parallel (the normal way) but put a 6.8ohm, 15watt resistor in series to drop the voltage into the allowable range. This is a $3 part. My cart is 36V. With the resistor in series, the voltage to the bulbs is 26V on a full charge and 13V when the batteries are down to 1 volt per cell (dead), which is still in the operating range of these LED lamps. Current draw is 1.45A. The resistor gets warm and should be bolted down to a metal surface.

Here's the resistor for a 36V cart:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...414-ND/2366238

If you have a 48V cart, you would need a different resistor...this one:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...0-16-ND/269971
That should give you about 26V at the lamps on a full charge.

Hope that helps...