EZGO TXT Super Cart project

[Tsteak]

Thanks all for the insights! Wheels showed up today, they wind up standing roughly 20" high...

I just found the "Bandit" option from plumb quick. Anyone have experience, or know anything about that?

[bronsonj]

I have a 3-way personality switch that I had set for baby mode, mommy mode and daddy mode. In daddy mode I limited the cart to 30 according to the gps and the cart is not fun at 30. For all intents and purposes the cart lives in mommy mode (24mph-ish).

Heck, I even removed daddy mode to put in a different program for the Christmas parade so I could set it up for pulling a float and I haven't put daddy mode back into the controller yet! Shows you how rarely the desire to go over 24mph really exists.

The caveat is that when I first went lithium with a new Alltrax controller I enjoyed the snot out of blasting past everybody and pulling wheelies and whatnot. So I get it, you will absolutely love it, for 4 or 6 months. Then you'll likely set it on a bit of a calmer setting.

[Tsteak]

Progress is happening, kind of...

bronsonj, I will have a personality switch too: golf mode, and street mode. Golf mode will be 25mph, which the cart currently does on the new wheels.

I ordered a controller kit today from Scotty B. I did a massive amount of research, and when you get everything in his kit, no one comes close on price! Thanks CartsUnlimited! I got the Alltrax 48600 controller, 2g wire set, solanoid, and F/R switch. I'm excited for the F/R switch, because I'll be going from the Lever style to a rocker switch; didn't realize that was an option, but Scotty makes one...

I've also reached out to Plum Quick. Robby got back to me relatively quickly, and let me know that the Bandit option will not accomplish what I'm looking for. I'm hopeful that they will be able to design a motor that suits my needs. I'll keep you posted. So far he has been incredibly responsive, and I'm grateful he is taking the time to deal with me.

On the issue of speed, I've traveled in a buddies cart at 35mph plenty of times and as long as the cart is stable, I'm fine with that speed. This is WAY too fast for golf or on anything but a well maintained paved road though... Faster than 35 is my sanity threshold. The main reason I want the extra speed is because I will be traveling on roads to and from the course, surrounded by geriatric drivers, and want to have a little extra power to get out of any precarious situations. This is why I'm putting in disc brakes too, probably on all 4 wheels. I ride a motorcycle, and it's scary the amount of times acceleration has saved my ***...

-That said, speed does put a smile on my face and it will be nice knowing there's always a little more in reserve... But to bronsonj's point, I'll probably be in golf mode all the time I'm not on the road...

BTW, the cart is street legal with a license plate and seat belts...

On another note, what solutions have people found on the Audio side of things? Can I run an amp off my 12v converter, or is there a limit to what that can power? Cart came with a pioneer system, which at this point will be getting a new head unit, but the speakers are pretty good, if they had a little power behind them they'd be fine. Thinking of an 8" bazooka tube under the seat, to get a little low end, if I can power it...

Thanks all for the help and suggestions, I'll keep you posted!

[Tsteak]

Update:

I've got the 48600 Alltrax controller installed, new F/R rocker switch, and I'll be installing the new dash, stereo and amp in the next couple days. The dash was meant for the TXT that I have, but my steering column is in the wrong place for their hole, I can't get one with the hole correct, so I will cut a new one and utilize a leather boot to cover the mess. I guess Western must've moved the column a bit when they outfitted the cart, but that seems really odd to me... Also got an Ex-Ray digital speedo installed, and it works well. It tells me the temperature of the motor, and the voltage of the battery pack, as well as speedo info; pricy gadget, but worth it to have the info considering I'm going to be pushing the motor pretty hard. It will flash red warning lights at me when the motor temp reaches the level I set (it will also warn you about low voltage if you want it to...)

With a beefier motor I got from a friend who has a cart shop in town, and the 600a controller, I can now cruise at 30-32 on flat ground. Downhill I've hit 37, and uphill it holds steady at 27-28. I've got an 8:1 gear set coming, and the controller almost has the thing doing wheelies at 12% standard throttle, so I imagine I'm going to be very happy when the new gears come (Alltrax has pretty easy programming software, so I am able to adjust the throttle input to tame it down). I would have gone 6:1, considering the torque I'm getting from 600a, but I don't think the batteries and motor would hold up very well to the load the controller would be calling for to make the acceleration close to normal. I'm a little worried about the 8:1, but we're going to jump head first off that cliff; stay tuned...

I'm also hoping to get a LiFePO4 battery pack from HPEVS. I've been told a typical Chinese pack wouldn't hold up well to the stresses of the 600a system, and would likely shutdown under power. I'm also told that the boys at HPEVS are putting out a quality pack rated at 140ah that will hold up, but I'm not looking forward to learning the price, which will govern the decision...

I'll post more details and info on the motor once I get everything dialed in. I still don't know what the motor is exactly, other than it is a lot more robust and torquier than the one I had, added about 5 mph to the cart, and I got a hell of a deal on it...

Also, for those who are interested in speed, the cart handles surprisingly well at 37mph on the 14" wheels (20.5" tall with tires at 25psi). I'm surprised how comfortable I was at that speed. My buddy has an A/C Drive cart that is out right scary above 30 (even with me driving it alone) but this one still feels much more tame. I have no idea why this would be, but my guess is it's the bigger wheels and tires. However, that said, it does seem like once I get to 40 I'll have crossed into the danger zone; I don't anticipate going much faster than 35 very often...

-also going to need some disc brakes before I get to driving it very far!

[JohnnieB]

Record some data logs.
One showing max effort acceleration from a standstill to max speed while on level pavement.
Another showing worst case scenario like max effort acceleration from a standstill while on a steep uphill grade.
Plus a few more in different driving modes.

Pick routes and terrain that can be duplicated and use these logs as a baseline for comparing to logs made after the 8:1 gears are installed.

Incidentally, at 37MPH on 20.5" tall tires and 12.44:1 gears, your motor was spinning at 7547RPM. Max RPM recommended for most DC traction motors is 6500RPM or less unless they are specifically designed for higher RPM. (More critical balancing and armature banding, etc.)

With 8:1 gears, 37MPH is 4853RPM. I don't have a good estimate what the top speed will be since the gear ratio change will reduce the torque where rubber meets road by an additional 35.7% in addition to the 12.2% reduction caused by the taller than stock tires.

[bronsonj]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

at 37MPH on 20.5" tall tires and 12.44:1 gears, your motor was spinning at 7547RPM.

Holy Exploded Motor Batman! If it's not a high speed motor it'll be a wasp nest of exploded copper if you run it that fast very often.

[Riso]

Originally Posted by Tsteak

Update:

I've got the 48600 Alltrax controller installed, new F/R rocker switch, and I'll be installing the new dash, stereo and amp in the next couple days. The dash was meant for the TXT that I have, but my steering column is in the wrong place for their hole, I can't get one with the hole correct, so I will cut a new one and utilize a leather boot to cover the mess. I guess Western must've moved the column a bit when they outfitted the cart, but that seems really odd to me... Also got an Ex-Ray digital speedo installed, and it works well. It tells me the temperature of the motor, and the voltage of the battery pack, as well as speedo info; pricy gadget, but worth it to have the info considering I'm going to be pushing the motor pretty hard. It will flash red warning lights at me when the motor temp reaches the level I set (it will also warn you about low voltage if you want it to...)

With a beefier motor I got from a friend who has a cart shop in town, and the 600a controller, I can now cruise at 30-32 on flat ground. Downhill I've hit 37, and uphill it holds steady at 27-28. I've got an 8:1 gear set coming, and the controller almost has the thing doing wheelies at 12% standard throttle, so I imagine I'm going to be very happy when the new gears come (Alltrax has pretty easy programming software, so I am able to adjust the throttle input to tame it down). I would have gone 6:1, considering the torque I'm getting from 600a, but I don't think the batteries and motor would hold up very well to the load the controller would be calling for to make the acceleration close to normal. I'm a little worried about the 8:1, but we're going to jump head first off that cliff; stay tuned...

I'm also hoping to get a LiFePO4 battery pack from HPEVS. I've been told a typical Chinese pack wouldn't hold up well to the stresses of the 600a system, and would likely shutdown under power. I'm also told that the boys at HPEVS are putting out a quality pack rated at 140ah that will hold up, but I'm not looking forward to learning the price, which will govern the decision...

I'll post more details and info on the motor once I get everything dialed in. I still don't know what the motor is exactly, other than it is a lot more robust and torquier than the one I had, added about 5 mph to the cart, and I got a hell of a deal on it...

Also, for those who are interested in speed, the cart handles surprisingly well at 37mph on the 14" wheels (20.5" tall with tires at 25psi). I'm surprised how comfortable I was at that speed. My buddy has an A/C Drive cart that is out right scary above 30 (even with me driving it alone) but this one still feels much more tame. I have no idea why this would be, but my guess is it's the bigger wheels and tires. However, that said, it does seem like once I get to 40 I'll have crossed into the danger zone; I don't anticipate going much faster than 35 very often...

-also going to need some disc brakes before I get to driving it very far!

Sounds like you have covered.

[Riso]

"With 8:1 gears, 37MPH is 4853RPM."

This is where my cart lives with the stock motor. My cart is not scary at this speed.

[Tsteak]

Originally Posted by bronsonj

Holy Exploded Motor Batman! If it's not a high speed motor it'll be a wasp nest of exploded copper if you run it that fast very often.

Haha, yep, "holy exploded motor" for sure! -rest assured, it is a high speed motor. It was custom built specifically for speed with bigger everything inside; I just don't know what that means... Knowing what I'm trying to do, my "cart guy" buddy had it built by his motor guy for me; he owns a cart dealership/custom build shop in Palm Springs, I'm not sure who he uses for motors. -He gave it to me at his cost as a favor, so I didn't want to push too many questions. I can say that all the coils inside were visibly larger that in any of the other motors he had kicking around the shop, and a lot larger than what I had before...

Also the ex-ray gives real time motor temp on the display, with an alarm set to alert me at 180*. So far, the motor hasn't got past 160*, but I haven't gone more than 4 or 5 miles in a straight shot. The guys at plum quick recommend 190* as the "oh ****" temp, so I set the warning to go off at 180*. I'm also thinking of ways to add a cooling fan, and open for suggestions on that!

-That said, I'll let you all know when I blow it up...

[JohnnieB]

Watch out when reading motor temperature specs and recommendations. In pother words pay attention to the temperature scale used (°F or °C) and exactly where the temperature reading is taken.

The traction motors used in carts usually have a Class H rating, which means the insulation on the wires in the windings are rated for 180°C (356°F).

That number consists of a 40°C (104°F) ambient temperature, a 125°C (257°F) temperature rise and a 15°C (59°F) hot spot margin (fudge-factor).

Unless whoever built the motor embedded temperature sensors within the windings, we are limited to indirect measurements, such as the motor's case temperature, so the values have to be prorated.

From what I've been able to find, max case temperature is 115°C (239°F), so a 180°F alarm setting on your Ex-Ray is fairly conservative. But, remember the motor has a huge thermal mass and the case temperature will continue to rise for several minutes after a hard run.