Voltage with key off - why?

[MyCousinVinnie]

The five volts does come back on when the pedal is released. On the key switch there is s wire to the positive large lug/contact on the solenoid. There is a wire to forward and reverse switch. There is a wire to the dash charge meter.

I had to replace the solenoid diode because it went bad while charging. It shorted out the pot micro switch. Oddly enough I went to charge it yesterday and the charger doesn't work either. Something bad happened obviously but I don't know what it is.

By the way I removed the wires from the f and r micro switch and still get the five volts.

Also the pot arm does rest on the pot ms button and it opens when you push the pedal. I assume this is correct.

[Sergio]

It is hard to figure this out without knowing how You wired the cart, did You follow any particular diagram?

The wire going to the "large lug/contact on the solenoid" should be on the Hot Side of the key switch by itself.

The other 2 wires should be on the Cold Side of the switch.

Since You are feeding the FNR switch first, just place the FNR in neutral to see if the voltage on the meter goes to 0v.

If it does, where does the power go after the micro-switch in the FNR?

Also, what kind of meter to you have?

[MyCousinVinnie]

I used the diagram referenced here (http://www.cartsunlimited.net/troubl...ion-kit--.html). This is the original key switch, and I haven't been able to see a hot vs. a cold side. i guess you just mean one of the other other contacts.

I will check the neutral thing today (not near the cart right now). Before the diode problem, it's been wired as it is right now for over a year and working fine. I'm not saying that necessarily proves it was wired correctly, but that would make sense.

I will recheck the key switch wiring today. This is the kind of dash charger I have is the second one on this page (http://www.cartsunlimited.net/battery-led-meters.html)

Oh, and the power in the ms in the F & R switch goes to the ms in the potentiometer. Thanks so much.

[Sergio]

The "Hot Side" of a switch is the side that You connect the Always ON power.

In Your case that would be whatever side of the switch the wire that goes to the big solenoid post where the pack positive cable is also connected.

The "Cold Side" or "Switched Side" is the side of the switch that only gets power when the switch is ON.

It does not matter which terminal of the switch You use, it is the wires connected to the switch that determine the Hot/Cold side.

I did not now those meters like you linked from Scottyb could display/work on 5v, the label says minimum 30v.


Edit:

My understanding is that the micro switch for the pot isn't position sensitive - meaning it doesn't matter which goes where so long as I use only the two outside prongs and not the center one.

Your statement is technically correct, but in practical terms when using only 2 terminals of a 3 terminal micro-switch, it would be better to use the N.C. terminal as the power IN and the COM as the power OUT.

The reason for that is if You use the COM for power IN, you will have a powered and exposed N.O. terminal when the pedal is on the resting position.

[MyCousinVinnie]

Sergio,

I owe you one again. Checked the ms on the pot a little while ago. As it turns out, this new ms I got is a little different from the old one (where I just used the two outside prongs). The COM and NO were right next to each other rather than on the outside. Once I got everything on the correct prong, it worked like a charm.

Thanks so much.