Pitching the F&R and replace with Solenoid's

[seulater]

Being an Electronics R&D engineer i just cannot stand a mechanical switch for F&R. I am going to replace this with 4 Solenoid's and remove the master Solenoid. Then just use a simple F&R rocker switch in the dash. Will post picks or skiz drawing if anyone in interested.

[mtpolarbear]

Originally Posted by seulater

Being an Electronics R&D engineer i just cannot stand a mechanical switch for F&R. I am going to replace this with 4 Solenoid's and remove the master Solenoid. Then just use a simple F&R rocker switch in the dash. Will post picks or skiz drawing if anyone in interested.

I'm definitley interested! Post pics please and wiring diagram.

[sportcoupe]

It might be cheaper and simpler to just buy a reversing contactor then to rig up a bunch of solenoids.

www.evdrives.com/category_s/1942.htm

[jdunmyer]

I have an old (cough, cough) Club Car that I installed a Curtis controller in, to replace the 5 solenoids/resistor speed control. Had a reversing contactor on hand that came from an electric pallet jack, unfortunatly with 24 volt coils. Thought about it for a bit, measured the current draw, and ordered the appropiate resistor from Amazon. About $4.00, IIRC.

I wired the entire cart, using the diagram for the Curtis 1205 controller from Curtis' web site. For whatever reason, their diagrams show a seperate solenoid contactor feeding power to the F/R contactor. Dunno if EzGo uses the same logic or not. And, Curtis warned against using 4 solenoids instead of a reversing contactor. It will work, but a failure of a solenoid could cause trouble.

[Melonbuster]

Isn't a solenoid a mechanical switch of sorts. So now you are replacing one switch with four or more switches?

[seulater]

Originally Posted by Melonbuster

Isn't a solenoid a mechanical switch of sorts. So now you are replacing one switch with four or more switches?

One can view it that way. However the F&R switch is making / breaking 2 contacts and then reversing them. I would prefer to have a solenoid do this. which would require 4 solenoids or as sportcoupe suggested a reversion contactor. Then i can use a single small rocker swtich in the dash to control them. I never have to be concerned about water or dirt getting caught up in the brushes on the F&R switch limiting my current draw.

[JohnnieB]

There was a comment about eliminating the main solenoid. The problem I see with that is the onrush of current to filter capacitors in the controller will eat up the contacts in whatever is being used to connect/disconnect the battery pack.

Granted, the contacts could be paralleled with pre-charge resistors like it is done with the main solenoid contacts, but that may produce some undesired consequences.

There is nothing wrong with using four SPST contactors for F/R, other than more complex wiring, but why not use two SPDT or one DPDT?

Here is a schematic showing two SPDT contactors used for F/R and a SPST used as a main battery disconnect.
The Main contactor is an Albright SW180 and the F/R is a SW182 (Which is a pair of DC182 on a common frame)

The controller and throttle type shown may be different, but the F/R circuit is the same for later series carts.

[DaveTM]

Originally Posted by sportcoupe

It might be cheaper and simpler to just buy a reversing contactor then to rig up a bunch of solenoids.

www.evdrives.com/category_s/1942.htm

OK....I looked at this link and just saw a whole bunch of switches that I know nothing about. That's prolly 'cause I'm not.....NOT...an engineer of any type.

So....iffin your gonna do this...it would be helpful for dummies like me to lay it out as to what parts your using, and what they do.

[seulater]

when i do it I will do so.

[jdunmyer]

JohnnieB,
Your diagram is exactly how I have my cart wired, it's pretty much Page 10 of the Curtis 1204/1205 manual.

It doesn't work any better than a manual F/R switch, but it does have a couple or 3 advantages, at least to me:

It seems more elegant to have a simple selector switch than a big, honkin' lever for the F/R function.

The resistance should be lower, so more power to the motor.

The wiring is shorter, see above.

I don't need to remove the F/R switch when I want to remove the body.