adding 2nd set of 48v

[ecctech]

has anyone installed a second set of 48v in parallel with the oem 48v set to get more range, in a club car DS 8p?

[scottyb]

Originally Posted by ecctech

has anyone installed a second set of 48v in parallel with the oem 48v set to get more range, in a club car DS 8p?

I don't recall anybody doing that.... where would you put all these batteries?

[ecctech]

the second pod is completely empty and will fit another six 8v batts. customer uses it as a beach transport and runs more than a hundred trips a day back and forth. i was just wondering if the extra amperage would hurt anything, i know the voltage will still be 48v. we are just trying to get extra range for them without going overboard. they have two carts but one will need a lot of work to be street worthy again. i was thinking of combining the two packs to get the range...

[ecctech]

oh and i read your page and when you said you can add another 6v battery to a ez-go 36v to get 42v, will that hurt the controller in any way? i have a personal cart that i was looking to get a little more out of and that sounds like the way to go if it does work....

[mjroman20]

Is this a 6 passenger vehicle? I assume the "second bay" is the area under the next row of seats. It wont damage the control as long as your maintain 48V nominal. The controller itself limits the drive current through he motor and off the batteries but you should get run-time per charge.

[scottyb]

You Have asked 2 different questions... first question will running a second pack in parallel increase run time? The answer is yes. In parallel the amperage from the 2 packs is added together and the voltage remains the same.
Remember the added pack may weigh 300-400 pounds so some benefit will be lost moving the extra weight around.

Second question. Can you add a 7th 6v battery to a cart for 42v operation? Yes.
Will this harm the stock controller? Yes. You need a controller compatible with 36-48 volt operation for 42v

[Volt_Ampere]

Weight and cost are the down side of doing this. Make sure that both packs are Matched! Same age and same AH and same brand of Batteries! I am not recommending doing this.

[scottyb]

Over the years we have seen questions like this -
What if we pull a trailer of batteries behind the cart?
What if we carry a gas generator and recharge as we run?

Maybe a gas cart would be best suited for this application?

[joesam]

I guess a safer alternative than 48v parallel, might be to install a pair of high amp switched solenoids that would allow a manual switch-over from pack#1 to pack#2. You could cut over to pack #2 when voltage reached a suitable but safe discharge level on pack #1. Then at least you could confidently use standard chargers to refill each pack independently.

[ecctech]

thank you for the info, i will run this by the customer. they are matched sets, both bought at the same time, trojan t-875's, both have been used the same. and thank you scotty on the info on the ez-go controller. customer is trying to get through one more season (summer time) and will be buying a 16p bus in the off season.