How to disable cart when charger is plugged in.. but NOT WITH A REED SWITCH

[mjroman20]

There are chargers out there with built in interlocks. Normally a NC relay powered by the battery pack. If the ac is plugged in it pulls the relay open. You could run the key or seat sw through it so its diabled on charge. It would be onboard though.

[JohnnieB]

The triangular charger receptacles on RXV and TXT-48V carts have an electronic equivalent of the reed switch that removes the voltage on the blue wire coming out of the back of the receptacle.

The electronic circuit is not as fragile as a reed switch, but when it fails you have to replace the whole receptacle rather than just part of it.

Of course you'll have to install a matching plug on your charger

[mrmackc]

Sounds like a child discipline problem, and just maybe a dangerous situation, just maybe the kids are really not qualified to drive the cart.

[yamahaguy97]

Originally Posted by mrmackc

Sounds like a child discipline problem, and just maybe a dangerous situation, just maybe the kids are really not qualified to drive the cart.

That may be, but we are not here to judge or make hinting comments about people's kids not being disciplined, or hinting that the parents are not doing their job. We want to stay focused on golf cart issues

[pastor@southwestbaptist.o]

JohnnieB, do you know what the "electronic equivalent" of the reed switch is? Is it a relay?

[yamahaguy97]

Originally Posted by pastor@southwestbaptist.o

JohnnieB, do you know what the "electronic equivalent" of the reed switch is? Is it a relay?

It is, but johnnie is basically telling you that you can install a receptacle into your cart that has the shut off function but then you will have to buy and install a matching DC cord on your charger to fit the receptacle. So basically changing to a new charging system


Steve

[pastor@southwestbaptist.o]

Yes, but it may be cheaper to just modify my current charge recepticle with whatever is used in the newer style. It must be a simple system seeing that it is contained in the charge recepticle.

[yamahaguy97]

Originally Posted by pastor@southwestbaptist.o

Yes, but it may be cheaper to just modify my current charge recepticle with whatever is used in the newer style. It must be a simple system seeing that it is contained in the charge recepticle.

hmm ok then cgtech's way would be best, drill a hole in the female receptacle big enough for a micro switch's "lever" to fit in and mount it on a bracket so when the handle goes in, it will click the micro switch and shut off power

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by pastor@southwestbaptist.o

Yes, but it may be cheaper to just modify my current charge recepticle with whatever is used in the newer style. It must be a simple system seeing that it is contained in the charge recepticle.

Attached are pictures of the PC Board the three terminals in the 48V triangular receptacle are attached to. The board is encapsulated, so the potting compound has been removed in the pictures. (IIRC - the pictures were cgtech's handiwork.)

It appears to be a multi-layer board with surface mount components and I cannot see the traces very well in the pictures or read all the component identifiers (Q1, D1, O1, C1, R1 etc.), so I'm not sure what all the components the blue wire is attached to are and I'm not quite sure how it works.

Since the terminals attached to the heavy red and black wires that connect to the battery packs main positive and negative terminals have battery pack voltage on them all the time, voltage on those terminals cannot be used to sense when the charger is plugged in. That leaves a change in resistance between the + and - terminals when the charger is plugged in, or current flow going towards the battery pack. However, the charger could be plugged into the cart, but not turned on, so there would be no current flow and the cart could be driven, so my guess is the it triggers on the resistance between the + and - terminals.

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You don't have to change the charger, you only have to change the plug on you existing charger's output cable to match the cart's new receptacle, but it won't be cheap.

[B747VET]

Not really clear whether these "kids" are yours or perhaps a broader group of young members of your organization.

Either way, a few folks seem to be trying to tell you that you might either have a discipline problem or a behavioral problem or perhaps both. Fundamentally though, it appears that you might be unwilling to hold them accountable for their actions. Either that, or these "kids" are far too young to be anywhere near the cart without direct adult supervision and that is a safety issue. And safety is everyone's business.

These things are potentially very dangerous and we all have a responsibility to protect young people from their own behaviors as they mature.

Anyone at any age can make an occasional mistake. We all do that. But consistent misbehavior by young folks must be addressed if there are any possible related safety issues. If they can't abide by your instructions to always route the power cable through the steering wheel, you have to assume that there are other potential safety issues that they also may not be able to perceive or figure out.

Put another way, the cable problem is a red flag pointing to other even more serious potential behavioral shortcomings. Even if you put an electrical charging safeguard in the cart, their judgment issues and immaturity may very well bite them when operating the cart, and their is no electrical safety switch for general immaturity.

In our country club community, no one under the age of 16 may operate a cart even with an adult on board. Now, I think that is way too severe of a policy but, whether 10 or 20, an immature kid is an immature kid and has to be prevented from endangering themselves or others.