What should Load Test numbers be...or not be?

[shadowman]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Our Therapy Group meets thursday nights 1am -4

Bring coffee and a set of wrenches.

scotty don,t forget the electrical tape.don,t we have fun here?i........................

[Brushpup]

Originally Posted by Stevegrmich

You guys need therapy . . . . .

As long as he/she is into golf carts, we might get along...and have somehting to talk about

Originally Posted by scottyb

Our Therapy Group meets thursday nights 1am -4

Bring coffee and a set of wrenches.

[erict]

Who's bringing the welding cable...

[gornoman]

Originally Posted by erict

Who's bringing the welding cable...

I am. That solves ALL the problems concerning cable, right away.

[erict]

Originally Posted by gornoman

I am. That solves ALL the problems concerning cable, right away.

[bdmonist]

Won't the load test numbers depend on the load being put on the cart? Since I have put in scottyb's meter, I have watched my pack voltage fairly closely. I use my cart in the hills quite a bit for hunting. Fully charged going up a very steep hill, it drops to around 47-48 volts. As the charge drops, it goes down to the 44 volt range. Of course, on flatter hills, it doesn't go as low.

Shadow - Are the numbers you reference a "full" dead stop (against a tree or some barrier) type load test? I have always wondered what my numbers should be. With my meter, I at least have a comparative range I can watch for.

[shadowman]

no these are #,s i,m just putting from reference of things i have done as i said i,m not certain if theres like an abslilute # or a set drop ...........my thinking is the same i think it depends on the load the battery the age how its maintained so many small things i don,t know that theres a real answer for this...........but if you stop on a hill and go the load is gonna be greater than stopping on flat land and than going............................now my cart with one of scottys meters if its reading 51.5 volts and i pull out it drops to 49 volts but recovers in a heartbeat...........but his 36 volt cart dropping to 27 volts is a 9 volt drop and to me thats a red flag somewhere.............i would think a true 36 volts if you just pull out shouldn,t drop past 32 volts and should recover very fast...................................

[Brushpup]

Originally Posted by bdmonist

Won't the load test numbers depend on the load being put on the cart? Since I have put in scottyb's meter, I have watched my pack voltage fairly closely. I use my cart in the hills quite a bit for hunting. Fully charged going up a very steep hill, it drops to around 47-48 volts. As the charge drops, it goes down to the 44 volt range. Of course, on flatter hills, it doesn't go as low.

Shadow - Are the numbers you reference a "full" dead stop (against a tree or some barrier) type load test? I have always wondered what my numbers should be. With my meter, I at least have a comparative range I can watch for.

Originally Posted by shadowman

no these are #,s i,m just putting from reference of things i have done as i said i,m not certain if theres like an abslilute # or a set drop ...........my thinking is the same i think it depends on the load the battery the age how its maintained so many small things i don,t know that theres a real answer for this...........but if you stop on a hill and go the load is gonna be greater than stopping on flat land and than going............................now my cart with one of scottys meters if its reading 51.5 volts and i pull out it drops to 49 volts but recovers in a heartbeat...........but his 36 volt cart dropping to 27 volts is a 9 volt drop and to me thats a red flag somewhere.............i would think a true 36 volts if you just pull out shouldn,t drop past 32 volts and should recover very fast.................................

Well, you guys have derailed what had become perfectly hijacked thread. I HOPE you are proud of yourselves.

Seriously though, I will have a better Idea and post good numbers as my pack will be well rested and freshly charge by quitting time today. Ill post that info tonight or tomorrow.

[Brushpup]

Well I said I would update so here it is.

Fresh and rested pack at 38.6 Volts

From a dead stop pack drops to 29 volts for an instant, the rapidly climbs to 34 at top crusing speed on a flat road.

Up a sandy hill over on some trails it went down to 30 while making the climb all the while increasing and made to 33. I haven't and probably wont do the load against something, but there it is for whatever its worth. The batts are 3Year old T-105's. Im sure they were neglected, but they are still too good to toss out. We will see how they hold up in our summer heat.

[scottyb]

Generally speaking DO NOT 'load test' against an immovable object.
You can burnout a motor or controller in a stall situation in a matter of moments.
Load test with a voltmeter going up hill ~ hard start from a stop. That is enough to tell you.
A 36v pack dropping to 26v may move the cart but, that is close to the limit and usually indicates a problem with one or more batteries. If you are getting a big drop in pack voltage move the meter to one battery and re test with live load. Test them all this way and see if you have one that drops more than 2v by itself... that battery may have a bad cell...