EZ Go Constant Green Light On Controller

[scottyb]

Good work guys
Everything you need to know about contactors (solenoids) resistors and diodes is found in this tech note on the Alltrax website below.
The small solenoid posts have no polarity so yellow (+) wire can be on either side. Only the diode is polarity sensitive. More in the link below on pg 7 & 8 but everybody should read it all.

http://www.alltraxinc.com/files/Doc1...ns-Learned.pdf

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Rock213

Alright guys, lets dig into this



I see a couple of differences. I do not have a resistor or diode on my solenoid. What do they do and what size would I need?
Also I see you have a different solenoid than I but I notice on your small studs you have the blue wire on the left and the yellow on the right. Mine are just the opposite. Went next door and checked my neighbor's who has a stock controller and his is wired like mine. Does the configuration of the yellow and blue wires on the small studs make a difference?

The Diode and Resistor are not needed troubleshooting, or actually needed for operation, but a good idea since they prolong the life of some stuff.

Diode: When the solenoid coil de-energizes, a huge voltage spike is generated and is nearly instantly felt by whichever switch opened to de-energize the solenoid. In Series drive carts, this was typically the tiny contacts of the pedal microswitch and arcing occurred, wearing out the switch faster. The diode across the solenoid coil, shorts the voltage spike back into the coil where it is dissipated harmlessly.

In DCS and PDS carts, the solenoid is energized and de-energized by an electronic switch inside the controller, which doesn't have mechanical contacts and doesn't arc, so EZGO didn't install a diode across the solenoid coi in DCS and PDS drive syatems, but the voltage spike is still felt by the electronic switch and Alltrax recommends a diode be used with their controllers.

Resistor: There are a dozen or two filter capacitors inside the controller, one across each MOSFET plus a few. When the battery pack is disconnected from the B+ terminal on the controller (Solenoid contacts open), the filter capacitors loose their charge and when the solenoid contacts close, attaching the battery pack to the B+ terminal, The discharged filter capacitors try to draw all the current the battery pack can provide and the high current cables will pass until the have been recharged. The solenoid contacts, being mechanical, don't close and stay closed instantly, they bounce a few times before they stay closed and while bouncing, they arc, wearing out the contact surfaces.

The Pre-Charge resistor across the solenoid contacts keeps the filter capacitors charged to a voltage very near the full pack voltage, so when the solenoid is energized, the voltage difference between the capacitors and the battery pack is small, so the current flow is kept relatively low.

The resistor used for a 36V system is about 250Ω rated at 5W or 10W.
The diode is about 1A for stock solenoids and about 3A for bigger solenoids.

------------
The solenoid's coil and contacts are not polarized, so they can be with the positive on the left, or the negative on the left. Whatever works best for the physical layout is the right way.

The only thing that is polarized is the diode. The banded end (Cathode) has the face the positive wire, which is the yellow wire in a PDS drive system.


---------
I see Scotty post some good stuff while I've been typing.

Great info that everybody should read.:thumbup

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Rock213

Alright guys, lets dig into this

Back to the the way the controller is powering up and when the solenoid is clicking.

The DCX controller was designed to be a Plug-n-Play replacement for a DCS controller, which superseded the PDS controller. When the DCS was replaced by the PDS, Alltrax designed an adapter kluge that effectively retrograded a PDS drive into a DCS drive at the 10-pin plug on top of the controller, so the best place to start is at the 10-pin connector.

You'll have to lift the connector slightly to touch the pins on the controller with your DVM's test leads.

Lets do the power up sequence first.

To power up the DCX, you need pack voltage on Pins 6, 9 and 10.

Pins 9 & 10 should have voltage whenever the Run/Tow is in Run.
Pin-6 should not have voltage unless either F or R is selected on the F/R AND the keyswitch is on.

Attached is a schematic of a DCX in a PDS with the voltage path for pin-6 highlighted in red.
As you seem the voltage path goes through of the adapter about a dozen times to get from the voltage source (Reed switch) to pin-6, so let's break it about in the middle and see what we have.

Put the Run/Tow switch in Tow and see if the voltage on pin-6 goes away.

Then we can go from there, depending on if it does or not.

[kantuckian]

Question will i have power to fwd/rev switch and reverse busser if the altrax controller is bad or do they feed from battery voltage
Thanks

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by kantuckian

Question will i have power to fwd/rev switch and reverse busser if the altrax controller is bad or do they feed from battery voltage
Thanks

What type drive does your cart have and which Alltrax controller do you have?

[kantuckian]

400 amp proganmable came from nivel all it says on controller

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

What type drive does your cart have and which Alltrax controller do you have?

Originally Posted by kantuckian

400 amp proganmable came from nivel all it says on controller

That answers one of the two questions.

If it is a Series Drive, all the switches are powered by the battery pack.
If it is a SepEx Drive (PDS) all the switches,except the reed switch, are powered by the controller.
If it is a SepEx Drive (DCS), it is a bit of both.

Therefore the answer to your original question depends on what type drive system your cart has.

[kantuckian]

Thanks For the info it is a sepex so looks like bad controller

[Rock213]

JohnnieB, thanks for the direction. It will probably be this weekend before I will have time to check the electrical on the cart (work, family takes precedence during the week). Stay tuned for findings.

[Rock213]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Back to the the way the controller is powering up and when the solenoid is clicking.

The DCX controller was designed to be a Plug-n-Play replacement for a DCS controller, which superseded the PDS controller. When the DCS was replaced by the PDS, Alltrax designed an adapter kluge that effectively retrograded a PDS drive into a DCS drive at the 10-pin plug on top of the controller, so the best place to start is at the 10-pin connector.

You'll have to lift the connector slightly to touch the pins on the controller with your DVM's test leads.

Lets do the power up sequence first.

To power up the DCX, you need pack voltage on Pins 6, 9 and 10.

Pins 9 & 10 should have voltage whenever the Run/Tow is in Run.
Pin-6 should not have voltage unless either F or R is selected on the F/R AND the keyswitch is on.

Attached is a schematic of a DCX in a PDS with the voltage path for pin-6 highlighted in red.
As you seem the voltage path goes through of the adapter about a dozen times to get from the voltage source (Reed switch) to pin-6, so let's break it about in the middle and see what we have.

Put the Run/Tow switch in Tow and see if the voltage on pin-6 goes away.

Then we can go from there, depending on if it does or not.

All above is correct on my cart. I lost voltage on pin-6 when I put the run/tow switch in Tow.