Electric Controller up in smoke?

[farrierjeff]

I have a electric 99 club car. Unit was working fine when i parked it but next day unit was dead and i found black smoke residue above the electric controller. Is there a way to trouble shoot this unit so i know it is the controller before i buy one and what could cause it to go up like that? one other note, there was a jumper wire on a silanoid next to the controller that had come off some time ago, could this have anything to do with it?

Thanks,
jeff

[farrierjeff]

Forgot to mention this is a 48v cart not sure if that matters

[shadowman]

is it a ds or a reagan cart? 1 or 2 solenoids................if there was black soot on controller then chances are for some reason it burnt up.......there should be some testing procedures in the stickies..............as for the wire? all depends if its live or not and if it touched controller and shorted it.....i can,t answer that but i,m betting its burnt up......................give as much info as you can and if possible a few pics of it.............................

[scottyb]

Controllers are very unforgiving of shorts or accidents. If you have any burnt or arc marks on the controller, it is likely damaged.

Controller output test: Hook the red probe to the B+ on the controller and the black probe to the M- on the controller. As you depress the pedal, you should read voltage across those 2 terminals of the controller.

Check the power output from the controller by connecting the negative probe to the controller's M- terminal and positive to the B+ terminal. Press the accelerator and watch to see if the voltage increases. It should increase from a reading of 0 to the full voltage of the battery. If the motor is not turning, the problem may be in the directional switch or motor. The controller is bad and must be replaced if there is no voltage.
I probably should mention controller test is done with at least one rear wheel jacked off the floor and key on, directional selector in forward. ~ test leads on B+ and M- should read 0v then push the gas and watch the voltage rise to full pack voltage?

[farrierjeff]

thank you guys for the info, i will try this and let you know what i find.

thanks,
jeff

[farrierjeff]

shadowman, how can i tell ifit is a ds or reagan cart? im pretty new to the cart world as you can tell.

[scottyb]

Here you go.

[farrierjeff]

OK, took the controller off and it is toast, looks like a bon fire went throught there. I also think the solienoid was the start of the problem because the cart would just stop as you were driving and if you hit the top of the solenoid it would stat going again. I plan to put a lift kit and bigger tires on this cart so should i go with a bigger controller? been looking on ebay but im not sure what i should get any suggestions would be great. Also the solenoid thing???, what is it and where can i get another one? thanks for any help.