2007 TXT PDS with 2017 Batteries Slows Down 75% charge and struggles on hills

[bearcat22]

How difficult and what is the cost to upgrade to 42v?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by bearcat22

How difficult and what is the cost to upgrade to 42v?

You'll need to end up with a controller and solenoid that will operate at 42V as well as a 42V charger and seven 6V batteries, so it isn't cheap, but it can be done in small steps instead of one big one.

My first step was replacing all ten of the high current cables with 2Ga - Silver soldered cables, which is a bit of overkill, but I'm an efficiency nut. 4Ga is sufficient for 400A controllers and 400A is about all a stock PDS motor can tolerate. ($219 for a 42V set)

Next step was to replace the stock PDS controller (300A) and stock solenoid (85A) with an Alltrax DCX400-PDS controller (Now obsolete - Replaced by the XCT family of controllers) that will operate at 36V, 42V and 48V and a 400A continuous/1000AS peak solenoid that will also operate at those voltages. (Controllers that operate from 36V to 48V are common, but not many solenoids will, so be careful to get one that does.) ($462 for XCT48400PDS controller and about $50 or so for the super-duty solenoid)

I ran at 36V until I replaced the battery pack, and bought seven new batteries instead of six and I bought a 42V charger. (Whatever you can get batteries for plus about $ 250 -$300 for the charger.

[bearcat22]

Thanks Johnnie! I dont know if I am ready for that investment yet but I would love to get some more speed and torque out of this cart. It is a 2007 so I am not sure if the motor would hold up.

Following up on your previous suggestions about my battery pack:

I charged the 2 batteries that were connected to the accessories and they are each showing about 6.3v which is within .1 of the other batteries. Total pack showing 38.1v after a full charge. Feel like that is pretty solid for my economy batteries.

I will be installing the 12v reducer today and attaching my lights and stereo. Should be a fun project.

Couple more questions:

1. When I release the pedal and the cart starts to slow down, there is a slight skipping or catching sound that I assume is coming from the motor. Is this normal? It basically sounds like the motor is slowing down or catching and the cart isnt jumping or anything. Just not a smooth sound. Any ideas.

2. When I drive fast on flat ground, the cart sways slightly. It almost looks to me like the aftermarket rear flip seat is swaying an inch or two back and forth. Just doesnt seem solid on there.

3. Are there any other mods or tweaks I can make to this cart that are under $100 to give it more boost and performance?

Thanks

[scottyb]

There is one cheap speed mod for the stock PDS controller. This controller uses 'Chips' for various regen & rpm limits. These chips are mere plugs with jumpers easily found on eBay for a few dollars. The red freedom chip gives 19 mph on the flats. Enjoy ~ it's the only $5 hop-up in golf cart history

[JohnnieB]

You might get the batteries to charge up a little more by doing some back-to-back charges. IE: Restarting a new charge cycle in the morning after being put on charge the previous evening.

1. It depends on which PDS mode it is in. Two of the four have regen braking and the other two don't. You might be hearing the motor in regen mode. Or if the ground has some small depressions and rises in it, the gears in the differential will be shifting from one face to the other on the gears. If you push and pull the cart back and forth by hand, you'll hear a clunk from the gears, they have quite a bit of play and there is no backlash adjustment.

2. The cart is a short wheelbase, narrow track, top heavy vehicle, which is inherently unstable. If there is any slop in the steering mechanism, it'll wander quite a bit. Also, the alignment could be off.

The aftermarket rear seat might not be securely installed. May just need tightening, or it might need some washers and spacers. Give it a shake by hand and see what moves, then do what is necessary to reduce/eliminate the movement.

3. As Scotty mentioned, install a speed chip. If the cart is doing upwards of 18 MPH on level ground, it already has one installed.

[bearcat22]

Ok Scottyb and Johnnie. I am almost there! I got all my supplies at HD today. I just need some final help.

Here is my setup:

Kenwood receiver has a red and black coming from it which was hooked to the batteries. Those will go to the fuse bank and bus bar. The yellow memory wire from receiver is not hooked up and my phone regularly connects so I am assuming it has a built in memory.

The lights also have a red and black and those will also go to the fuse bank and bus bar.

The previous owner used an inline fuse for each. Should I cut those off?

My only other question is the trigger wire on the ignition switch. The scottyb diagram that came with it shows the red wire intercepting the battery meter and connecting to the ignition positive side. The scottyb diagram on the website shows yellow. Which one should I use?

Also, I currently have a lame battery meter hooked up to the positive side of the ignition. How can I also connect the reducer trigger wire to that? See the photo showing the back of my dash. Can I splice them?

What size wires should I use from reducer to + and - of the pack? What about from - of the pack to the bus bar?

[bearcat22]

After doing more research on the receiver I realized that this is the setup. The receiver is attached to a simple up and down on/off switch.

Black ground wire coming straight from the receiver to the battery pack which I will then move to the new bus bar.

Red ignition wire going from the receiver going to one side of the switch.

Yellow battery wire from receiver going to the other side of the switch along with a Red wire from that same terminal to where the battery + was (which I will now connect to fuse bank).

The switch obviously gives power to the receiver and then when turned off, the red wire coming from the battery is powering the yellow memory wire. Does that make sense?

The big question is: Do I connect the yellow memory wire from the reducer to that yellow wire and remove from the switch?

Thank you

[JohnnieB]

I'd have to have a wiring diagram for your radio and voltage reducer and cart to determine which wire goes where.

However I can answer the other questions.

If you use a fuse block for the 12V to the accessories, the in-line fuses installed by the previous owner will be redundant and not needed, but won't hurt to leave them in place.

If the voltage reducer has a wiring harness going into it, use the same gauge wires as those found in the harness.

[bearcat22]

I am using the blue Veego reducer from Scottyb

Any thoughts on the green on/off wire from the reducer going to the “on” terminal of the key switch? Can I splice that to the battery meter wire that is already there?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by bearcat22

I am using the blue Veego reducer from Scottyb

Any thoughts on the green on/off wire from the reducer going to the “on” terminal of the key switch? Can I splice that to the battery meter wire that is already there?

I don't have a wiring diagram for the Veego, so I don't know what color the remote On/Off wire is, but id it is green, you can splice into the battery meter red wire to the keyswitch, so the switched 12V from the Veego comes on when keyswitch is turned on.