3 wheel EZgo troubleshooting

[yurtle]

Originally Posted by TheOldMan

Further research tells me that all EZ-Go pot box controllers used a 5K pot. The Curtis replacement pot shown on one of the parts websites has exactly the same numbers stamped in the back of the case as the original, except the last 4 digits, and I'm going to assume that's mfg date. Looks to me like this is a 45 degree linear taper pot. Std old off the shelf item. Definitely not wire wound, or anything exotic. Can't understand why these guys want $20-$40 for one.
This one is no good anyway, think I'll open it up and see if my theory is right. Don't understand how it got from 5K to over 15K.

I figured it would be costly, that's why I asked. If it's dirty, it would have a higher resistance. If it's bad, you have nothing to lose by opening it up, and trying contact cleaner.

I grew up tearing apart small DC motors in toy cars and repairing them. Most of the time, a little cleaning of the commutators and fresh lube fixed them. That was before everything became throw away.

[TheOldMan]

JohnnyB - Thank you very much for the parts breakdown. I'll download it onto a flash drive.
Yurtle - I served 10 yrs in the Navy in electronics, but that's been 50 yrs ago. Guess I forgot more than I ever knew. I just couldn't figure out how a pot could go from 5K to 15K, so I opened it up. Strange beast! Where the resistive compound should circle around, there seems to be some kind of conductor from the end of the pot that was shorted to the wiper, to about 11 o'clock, then and open space (looks like the black plastic body material) to about 2 o'clock, then the conductor around to the opposite connector. End to end, the resistance is 15K. From the shorted pin end around to 11 - open. continuing on to the next conductor - open, then jumps to 15K. Looks like maybe the resistance was contained in the 11 to 2 position, and is gone. That would be about the 40 - 45 degree action of the operating lever. Guess I need the right pot.

[yurtle]

Thanks. Can you post a pic when it's convenient? A lot of us have never see one.

[TheOldMan]

I want to thank you guys for all the help. I purchased the pot from Cloud Electric in Clarkesville Ga. I'm still suffering from sticker shock over the cost, but they had the best price I could find, and the service was good. Got it re-installed this morning, and it runs great. As soon as I figure out how, I'll post a picture of the pot "innards", that makes it almost self explanatory. Next project, I guess is the noisy rear end. It has plenty of oil, but grinds pretty bad. I think I know where there's a junker, I'll see if I can buy the diff.
I'd also like to add some kind of battery condition indicator, preferably DVM. Open to all suggestions.
I bought this thing to make a dedicated spray rig for the garden, and if I can get it away from the wife, may still do so. The sprayer uses a 12v wobble pump. Is there any certain place to pick up 12 volts, or just across any two batteries will do?

[93yellowclubcar]

Across two batteries will work, but you'll want to switch out which of the three sets of two you use every so often to "balance" the drain the pump causes. The best option would be a 36 to 12 volt reducer.

[radioman]

A voltage reducer would be best to prolong battery life instead of tapping two batteries to get 12 volts depending on how much current the pump draws. You can google "voltage reducer" and get an idea. There are some 5 amp 36/12 volt available in the $20-30 range.

[TheOldMan]

Thought about starting a new thread, but this is the same cart, and a continuation of the same problem. Before I changed the potentiometer, the cart would jump out from under you when you got past the dead spot on the throttle peddle. Usually spin the wheels. Once the pot was installed, the cart had slowed considerably, but was adequate for our needs. I removed all the plastic pieces off the back, and built a small bed. I purchased a solid state voltage reducer and waterproof lighter socket off Amazon, and used them to power my 25 gallon spray unit for my garden, which sets on that bed. I also added an analog battery condition meter. The voltage reducer is switched on to power the meter and the socket when needed. The meter show halfway up in the white "charging" area with the batteries charged, so I added a digital meter so I could see what was happening. The digital was "DOA" so waiting for a new one. Here's the problem. In order to spray veggies, one must continually stop & go. Works great for the first few minutes, then won't power forward through the soft ground. Reverse it for a foot or two, and it will usually power through again a couple of times. If you get a little run at it, and keep it up to speed, it'll go through the soft stuff forever. Seems to have more power in reverse than forward.
Also, occasionally, when switching from reverse back to forward, the switch doesn't make contact until switched again. I read somewhere that the f/r switch was a maintenance item. Is there a procedure to overhauling it? Don't want to start removing it and have it fly in a million pieces.