Black Beauty II - Pic Heavy

[coosa]

I finally had time to test the cart. JohnnieB, it passed the test you gave me, and its not throwing any error codes. It blinks 4 times when it gets power and then stays green. Voltage steadily drops from 38.4 to 0. I'm gonna hope the controller is ok and get another motor. ScottyB, I'm sending you a message. The tires are 22" tall.

Thanks to all for the help!

[coosa]

I just wanta update those interested in my cart problems. I called Scotty and was gonna just buy a motor, but he wasn't comfortable that he had a motor that would do what I wanted without adding another battery. Give Scotty a lot of credit - he coulda made a sale and instead told me to call D&D and discuss it with them. For those that are researching carts and wondering who to trust - the regulars on this board are the greatest! In fact, I think most of the folks that are popular in the cart aftermarket world and good people who won't take advantage of you. The guys you gotta watch are those selling carts from a lot. Many times they make them look great, but its what's inside that counts.

So I called D&D twice and they must have had some kinda communication problem and nobody ever called me back. I carried the motor to a local guy and he looked at it and said he couldn't find anything wrong with it. He tightened the brushes and said that might fix it; it didn't. It still will run about 1/3 speed in reverse and won't move in forward.

So I called Plum Quick and finally got to talk to the guy that runs it. I got the feeling he is a really small business, trying to make it with mainly family members. I described the issue to him and asked if he thought the Bandit upgrade might get me going. His response was that if the motor will run in reverse, it should run in forward. That would make it a bad controller. I have a stock controller, so he suggested I put it on and see if it will work. I haven't had time to do it. I'll let the board know what happens.

Thanks for all the help!

[JohnnieB]

While you are at it, check the insulation on the F1&F2 cables were they are routed around the battery frame.

If the insulation is worn through like shown in attachment-1, they might have shorted together and taken out Forward field circuit in the controller and maybe damaged the Reverse field circuit.

The difference between the motor spinning CW and spinning CCW, is the direction the amps flow through the filed windings. Unlike a series motor where the same amps the flow through the armature also flows through the field windings, the amps flowing through the field windings in a SepEx motor is from a different source than the amps flowing through the armature, and number of amps the flow through the field windings if far fewer than the number of amps flowing through the armature.

Basically, a SepEx (SEParately EXcited) controller is two controllers in one box. A high current one for the armature and a low current, reversible one for the Field.

To further eliminate the motor as the problem, or at least prove it'll spin in both directions, connect it as shown in attachment-2. To get it to spin in the opposite direction, reverse the cables on the F1 and F2 connectors, leaving the A1 & A2 cables connected as is.

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If it does turn out to be a bad controller, a XCT48400PDS (or 500A) would be a great controller in this cart.

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Also, check you in-box in a little while, I'm sending you a PM.

[coosa]

JohnnieB - Many thanks for all the help!

It might be a few weeks before I have time to deal with it, but I will report back to the board what happens. I know a lot of people try to do research and read threads like this one. Its very frustrating to read a long thread and then never find out what happened. I'll be sure to post it. And get a proper controller for the motor if that is the trouble.

There are no bare wires; I checked all of them in the woods when it happened.

[coosa]

I promised a report on what the problem turned out to be when I got the cart back to running. I've been having some health problems and just haven't felt like working with it, but finally have it going again.

I had a stock controller, so I decided to just hook it up without even removing the DCX500. That only took a few minutes, and the cart ran completely normal when I tested it. I was surprised at how fast it would run on flat ground with the stock controller and 22" tires. I only ran it a little; just long enough to make sure the motor was working ok.

A member on here had a used DCX500 that he sold me at a good price and even included the programming cable and provided great tech support. :)
I was able to program it on my desktop and installed it yesterday. The cart ran completely normal. I turned down the max output, so maybe it will hold together ok now. I guess time will tell. I do still plan to send the motor to PQ for the Bandit upgrade, and hope I can get that done before turkey season. That is the time when I will run it hard for extended periods.

So, I am glad Scottyb wouldn't sell me a new motor; the cart still wouldn't have worked. I bought this cart used, so there is no telling what it went thru before I got it. And I know there were some things not done right on it when it was modified - it still had a stock solenoid and a 6 gauge cable running from the solenoid to the controller. I guess it will always be a mystery as to why the controller died instead of the motor. I just hope there is not something wrong with the motor that is gonna fry this controller too. If it does, I guess I will buy another one.

Thanks to everyone for all the help!