Kart lugs/ voltage to the motor drops

[motoman809]

Hi there,

I am actually working on a go kart but it runs essentially the same system as some of these golf karts. The problem I'm having is somewhere between the throttle and the motor (Each battery is showing proper voltage). When I first apply throttle the voltage at the motor is initially at about 48V, but if I try to make it accelerate, the voltage drops to about 16V and won't go anywhere. I'm wondering if anyone has seen this happen before and if so, what you did to fix it.

Thanks

[simple man]

What kind of batteries does your kart use and is it a series motor? As with a golf cart, the first step is to make sure you have good, fully charged batteries, and all the cables are clean and tight!

[motoman809]

I have fresh Optima blue top batteries and all the cables and lugs are clean. Also, it is a series motor. and I have even tried switching the throttle potentiometer with a new one.

[basshawk84]

Have you load tested those batteries by chance?

[93yellowclubcar]

I agree with basshawk, do a load test on the batteries. There's always the chance that one or more of them isn't holding up under load. The problem you're describing sounds a bit like weak batteries.