Under glow

[wbwood]

Hmmm..they sell both reducer and converter. According to them the converter is for the whole pack and the reducer is coming off 2 batteries. I guess more like what is currently on my cart. Except they are sayi it's a 48v - 12v reducer.

As seen at http://golf-carts.buggiesunlimited.c...0reducer&asug=

The first 2 products.

[Scott H.]

Originally Posted by wbwood

Hmmm..they sell both reducer and converter. According to them the converter is for the whole pack and the reducer is coming off 2 batteries. I guess more like what is currently on my cart. Except they are sayi it's a 48v - 12v reducer.

As I said before, some places call it one thing while others call it another, but it's all the same function. They are talking about 2 similar, but different products on their add. It goes back to them trying to sell more items so that they can afford to keep the lights on, pay their employees, and make a profit.

I'll try my best to let you know the basics behind the units as I understand them, but I'm telling you right now that I do not work for, nor am I involved in the industry in any shape or form. I am only going by my own personal experience.

On a 36 Volt system, the battery pack uses six 8 Volt batteries. One 8 Volt battery will not run a 12 Volt device correctly and running it off of 2 batteries will be over powering the device, and probably causing damage to the device because it now is getting 16 Volts instead of the 12 Volts it was designed for. In this case, you would need the 2 battery reducer to run the device properly.

On the typical 48 Volt system, the battery pack typically uses four 12 Volt batteries. You can run a 12 Volt device off of a single battery in this configuration, and the factory often does run factory installed lights this way.

However, with that said I DO NOT recommend either of these practices!

You will be discharging either one or two of the batteries more than the rest of the pack by doing it. When you charge the pack, the other batteries can over charge while the weaker batteries that are being used to power your equipment catch up to the ones that are only being used to power the cart.

If I were making the purchase, I honestly would get the unit that converts the whole pack down to 12 Volts so that ALL your batteries remain the same voltage and your pack lasts longer. The way I see it, these batteries are expensive enough without my adding to shortening their life and I don't want to have to go through that purchase any sooner than I have to.

Once again, I hope this has helped you.
-Scott H.

[Chipster27]

I bought these, been happy with them. No problems yet.
http://www.ledunderbody.com/multi-co...ed-lights.aspx

[wbwood]

Thanks Scott H. That was the understanding I was having from reading on here. Our cart came with a single headlight that the campground out on the old fleet. I wasn't sure if it had a reducer on it until I was putting a lift on it and saw what I thought might be one. Our cart has six 8v batteries. I emailed the place we got it from and asked if it was a 48v reducer and they said it was a 16v reducer to 12v. Meaning from what I understood and what you just said, that it's connected to two batteries. I don't want that. It makes me cringe to think that the batteries are not wearing evenly. I mean that's a $600 investment to just get new batteries. The good thing is that we hardly use the light. But I will be looking at getting a decent reducer and then a fuse box and go from there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I connect the reducer to the pack (first and last battery in the pack) and then connect the reducer to a fuse box. Then I can connect the individual components (headlights, underglow, radio, etc) to the fuse box. Is that a correct thought on it?

[Scott H.]

Originally Posted by wbwood

I will be looking at getting a decent reducer and then a fuse box and go from there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I connect the reducer to the pack (first and last battery in the pack) and then connect the reducer to a fuse box. Then I can connect the individual components (headlights, underglow, radio, etc) to the fuse box. Is that a correct thought on it?

This is the exact way I would recommend doing the installation except for one small thing. I would also add a ground bar of some sort to connect all the grounds to so it would be easier to change things in, or add to, your system.

Just make sure that NOTHING grounds to your frame and you'll be golden. The reason you don't ground to the frame is the full pack voltage can, and will, back feed through your system. Trust me, the results of that happening isn't a pretty sight.

-Scott H.

[1001]

advanced auto parts has very cheap under glow for cars and golf carts and cheap i would take a look there hope this helped

[zx104u2nv]

I have a set that came with the cart but didn't have the remote to it. They too were from LED Underbody so it was easy enough to order another remote from them. The LEDs have held up great on and off road and I know if something happens to them I can order just another LED tube, remote, or controller and not a whole set again.
Just something else to think about.

[wbwood]

The LED glow lights were the ones I saw for $90 originally. I do like them having an actual website as well.

[Plasterface]

Originally Posted by Scott H.

As I said before,on a 36 Volt system, the battery pack uses six 8 Volt batteries. -Scott H.

Last time I checked 6 x 8 was 48 not 36, just sayin.

[Scott H.]

After re-reading this whole thread to check out some of the sites mentioned in it, I just realized I left part of my explanation out when I had to get up and rescue dinner from burning on the stove in the middle of typing my earlier responce. I would edit the post to fix my mistake, but the time limit for doing so has expired.

Originally Posted by Scott H.

On a 36 Volt system, the battery pack uses six 8 Volt batteries. One 8 Volt battery will not run a 12 Volt device correctly and running it off of 2 batteries will be over powering the device, and probably causing damage to the device because it now is getting 16 Volts instead of the 12 Volts it was designed for. In this case, you would need the 2 battery reducer to run the device properly.

This should read as:

On a 36 Volt system, the battery pack uses six 6 Volt batteries. You can run a 12 Volt device off of 2 of the 6 Volt batteries if you connect the leads to the positive terminal on the first battery and the negative post on the second battery.

On some of the 48 Volt systems, the battery pack uses six 8 Volt batteries. One 8 Volt battery will not run a 12 Volt device correctly and running it off of 2 batteries will be over powering the device, and probably causing damage to the device because it now is getting 16 Volts instead of the 12 Volts it was designed for. In this case, you would need the 2 battery reducer to run the device properly unless you decide to use the style of converter that draws power from the complete battery pack.

Sorry if there was any confusion,
-Scott H.