Off Road Lights

[Deans]

A short word to the wise.... Be careful what you hook up for lighting (or other accessories). Over extending your electrical system can/will leave you walking or even worse, could torch the wiring and your cart.
CC uses a 25 Amp, 12 Volt starter/generator to produce the power to run the cart and all the goodies you have on it.
What does that really mean?
The conversion of Amps to Watts is found by the equation Watts = Amps x Volts. For example 1 amp * 12 volts = 12 watts..... which basically means that the CC generator only puts out 300 watts total power.
Generally speaking, pulling 2/3 or more of the total power output of a generator on a continuous load basis will cause the generator to fail prematurely and that is what you'll be doing with those 100 watt lights. That's not to say they won't run for some time with no problems, they just won't run as long as if you had toned them down a tad. It's all in how much $$ you want to spend and how much down time you'll have to deal with later.

[kevinandrew]

Originally Posted by dvxman72

I figured it out. Turns out I'm an idiot. The splicers I was using were not cutting into the wires and it was not getting power or being grounded. Thanks for all the posts.

bahahahahahaha! ok....sorry. splices were just very high resistance conections. very hard for that small a voltage to overcome the insulation. next, you're going to want to get some sort of fuse protection. have you made sure that you are running the right size wire so it doesn't burn up with the current drawl from your lights?

[kevinandrew]

ok......here's another hillybilly frabrication idea. if you transplant a different motor in your club car.......why can't you fab a bracket to run an automotive alternator off of your club car clutch assembly? it has a pulley wheel that used to turn the club car starter generator. don't most alternators make at least 70 amps or better? how many rpms do they need? should be in the 1000-4000 rpm range. crazy idea, or inspired thought. will those who are smarter review this?

[gornoman]

An automotive alternator has a fair amount of resistance to rotation. On a 250hp engine, this drag would be considered negligible, but on a 9hp engine......

[kevinandrew]

Originally Posted by gornoman

An automotive alternator has a fair amount of resistance to rotation. On a 250hp engine, this drag would be considered negligible, but on a 9hp engine......

what about an alternator off of something small in hp.....like a geo metro? was thinking more along the line of turning it with a 16hp motor.

[gornoman]

To me, the same problem still exists. I'm not saying it won't work, I just think it needs more facts verified before fabrication starts.

[ckiguy]

Originally Posted by dvxman72

I figured it out. Turns out I'm an idiot. The splicers I was using were not cutting into the wires and it was not getting power or being grounded. Thanks for all the posts.

scotch lock connectors are more problems then there worth! doit right and us terminal connections or butt splice connections with heatshrink to seal your connections. otherwise later down the road when the rain, water, mud and other goo get in the connetion and it fails, you wont be chasing it down either. on a automotive side a scotchlock connector only is expect to last around a year!

[dvxman72]

Originally Posted by ckiguy

scotch lock connectors are more problems then there worth! doit right and us terminal connections or butt splice connections with heatshrink to seal your connections. otherwise later down the road when the rain, water, mud and other goo get in the connetion and it fails, you wont be chasing it down either. on a automotive side a scotchlock connector only is expect to last around a year!

I did end up going with butt splice connections and the heat shrink and everything works perfectly.

[Mike Mac]

I'm with Gorno on this. That little motor is gonna work it's a** off trying to turn that generator with those lights on. Won't be much left to move that car out where you can use those lights.

[pachanga90]

I would run the lights thru a relay,that way the power is fed directly from the battery,and the switch will just complete the circuit.That way the load is on the battery directly.I install custom lighting and even the dual-halogens we use are only 9.8 amps each,so the relay just eliminates the draw on the vehichle wiring.The stock system will run those lights fine with a decent battery.As far as Scotch-Locks,Throw them as far as you can,they are worthless!Hope this helps.