Controller upgrade, now won't charge

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sleepyluke

That is easy but I did not swap them! Never touched that set of wires. Swapped it. It now reads full but still on.

Biggest question I have is that it seems the main wire feeding power to the controller is the small red/white striped wire that should be going to the charger reed. This does not seem right in my mind which would lead me to think one of my other wires is the actual wrong one.

They may have been installed backwards at the factory or by the previous owner. It would have appeared to be working normally with a stock PDS controller installed, but the readings might have gotten a bit strange at times since it reset every thing the key was turned off and recalibrate itself to 100% for whatever the pack voltage was when the key was turned back on.

However, there still shouldn't be power to the keyswitch unless F/R is in F or R, so the meter shouldn't be illuminated unless F or R is selected and the keyswitch is ON.

Does the Green LED on the controller stay on all the Time except when Run/Tow switch is in Tow?

The controller should only power-up when in RUN , key is ON and either F or R is selected. If it is staying on like the meter is, something is screwed up in the wiring, probably in the DCX to PDS adapter.

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The DCX controller only gets the power for the logic circuits via the reed switch, the operating power for the rest of the circuitry is supplied by the red wire from J1 Pin-5 to the battery side of the solenoid.

The DCX to PDS adapter is a can of worms, but here is most of the logic power traced out in red. (Adapter J3 Pin-4 to DCX Pin-9 isn't highlighted)

The Power from the reed switch ends up on Pins, 5, 6 & 9 in Forward and 4, 5, 6 & 9 in Reverse.
Power from the battery side of the solenoid goes to Pin-10.


Power on pins 6, 9 & 10 turns on the controller.
Then power on Pin-5 tells it to energize the solenoid.
Power on Pin-4 tells is to go into reverse.

[sleepyluke]

Green LED on all the time like the meter. I will trace the adapter issues next. Well on with run. Regardless of key and f/r switch.

So no red wire to the solenoid at all?

The red white wire that is hooked to the battery terminal instead of the reed switch looks to be in 4. Sorry pin 4 of stacked 10 pin. if that is reverse that makes even less sense to me. Will run in f or reverse.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sleepyluke

1. Green LED on all the time like the meter. I will trace the adapter issues next. Well on with run. Regardless of key and f/r switch.

2. So no red wire to the solenoid at all?

3. The red white wire that is hooked to the battery terminal instead of the reed switch looks to be in 4. Sorry pin 4 of stacked 10 pin. if that is reverse that makes even less sense to me. Will run in f or reverse.

It really gets confusing with the adapter stuck in there between the PDS wiring harness and the DCX controller.

1. That isn't right. Something is wired wrong someplace.
With the Run/Tow in RUN and the F/R in Neutral, there should only be Voltage on Pins 9 & 10 on top of the DCX.

There is no voltage sent to the Key switch until F or R is selected, then it goes to the keyswitch via one of the two diodes in the adapter, then when key is ON, it is forwarded to Pin-6 on top of the DCX via the adapter.

2. Regardless of color, there should be a wire from the battery side large terminal of the solenoid to Pin-5 of the original PDS J1 plug (10 pin plug).
The tab on the plug is adjacent to the row of pins numbered 6 thru 10.

3. Pin-4 on the original PDS 10 pin Plug goes to the reed switch.
Pin-4 on the DCX controller has B+ on it when F/R switch is in R.

On the original PDS system, J1 Pin-3 had B+ when F/R was in F and Pin-2 had B+ on it when it was in R. J1 Pin 2 is connected to DCX pin 4 via the the adapter.

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SWMBO is dragging me to the store, but I'll be back later.

[sleepyluke]

So do I need to add a wire from solenoid to red/old pds pin 5? If so, just splice in?

Put pds pin 4 back to reed switch?

Seems odd to be adding power, rather than just basic plug and hook up. But straight forward is not working!

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sleepyluke

1. So do I need to add a wire from solenoid to red/old pds pin 5? If so, just splice in?

2. Put pds pin 4 back to reed switch?

3. Seems odd to be adding power, rather than just basic plug and hook up. But straight forward is not working!

1. I suspect the wire from the original PDS J1 Pin-5 is connected to B+ someplace, or the cart wouldn't run. It just shows that the other end is connected to the Battery side terminal on the schematics (Both stock PDS and The Alltrax one I posted above) and that is how my 2008 PDS is wired (See Picture I posted above).

Personally, I'd trace the wire from J1 Pin-5 and find out where it is connected. There are several Sources of B+ that is constantly on, so it could be hooked up to any of them and bee just fine.


2. Only if you feel the need to. Bypassing the reed switch by connecting J1 Pin-4 to a B+ source that is constantly on, like the main positive post on the battery pack, is as good of place as any.

Here is a picture of how some people do it.

3. Like most, my PDS to DCX transition was more or less Plug-n-Play. However, I have heard of a couple instances recently, where the PDS to DCX adapter was bad.

Sounds like the previous owner did a bit of rewiring in your cart, but I suspect the adapter is bad. Or at least I cannot figure out why the controller comes on as soon as the Run/Tow switch is put in RUN without the cart or the adapter being miswired.

[sleepyluke]

It seems that the reed switch pin 4 wire is powering everything. If I put it to the battery post it runs but everything is hot all the time. If I disconnect it, no power to the controller at all. Currently there is nothing from the + battery post to the solenoid.

Would it run or blow up if I ran the reed switch wire to the solenoid? I have not tried because I did not know if it would short it or work.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by sleepyluke

It seems that the reed switch pin 4 wire is powering everything. If I put it to the battery post it runs but everything is hot all the time. If I disconnect it, no power to the controller at all. Currently there is nothing from the + battery post to the solenoid.

Would it run or blow up if I ran the reed switch wire to the solenoid? I have not tried because I did not know if it would short it or work.

The wire from the reed switch that connects to J1 Pin-4, supplies the power that goes through all the external switches, which in turn feds power to the logic circuits inside the controller and supplies B+ to the solenoid coil. The wire going to J1 Pin-4 can be connected to any B+ source that stays on constantly. IE: Main positive terminal on battery pack, Battery side large terminal on solenoid, or the Positive terminal in the charge receptacle.

The wire going to J1 Pin-5, must also be connected to a B+ source that stays on constantly. It supplies the analog circuitry in the controller.

[sleepyluke]

Ok going to run out j1 pin 5 and see about it. But am I going to mess something up with it on all the time still? I partially tracked it last night and pin 5 wire goes to the buzzer like it says on the schematics but I can not find where it gets from there to the harness, but it has to somehow because it is in the loom when it gets to the adapter. I am going to cut all the looms including the one aroundt he read of the seat to see where the wires actually run.

Is it now worth a call to alltrax for a possible new adapter?

Thanks for the trouble.

[JohnnieB]

They wire bundle covers in my cart have a split down the side, if your are the same, you don't need to do any cutting.

The wire from Pin-5 ought to be connected to B+ source that is on all the time and there aren't all that many of them.

Calling Alltrax would be a good idea. The fact that the controller turns on with the Key off and the F/R in Neutral, points at the adapter being bad.

[sleepyluke]

Ok I did not get to do anything today except briefly talk to ScottyB and he confirmed something is wrong here. He said make sure to tell everyone it is a 2000 pds. It seems to be some of the jacked up ones, but the j1 harness matches the schematic posted on the sticky page. He had me dis connect the white/yellow wire from pin 8 and hook to the small post of the solenoid. This made the meter very dim until in run mode when the solenoid kicked on and it went bright.

I also traced the wires to the reverse buzzer which seems to have the continuation of a hot wire, but the wires end at the buzzer. There is a harness laying behind the dash, a red and black wire, and then a harness. Kthv se are laying in there not hooked to anything. Should they be? I plugged the wire from the buzzer + to e red wire to complete and then checked! the controller threw a low voltage code! which it had never done, so I put it back like it was before.

Dumb question, but alltrax info says it should have a solid green light once in run mode (after the blinks to show that it is ez go). What should it be doing.

Exact sequence Currently turn to run, controller blinks green, turn on key and f/r and it goes through the 4 blinks, then turns solid, solenoid clicks and it will run. Turn key off, light remains on. Should it be going back off on the controller at that point? What should it be doing? I don't want to burn it up.

It runs, should should I just put to tow mode after I run it every time? That does not sound very reasonable?

Still looking to talk to alltrax about the harness unless you can direct me better. I just don't want to cut everything and "build my own" harness but if a couple are out of place I can fix that. Thanks again