Motor Upgrade

[bkoether]

Hey all, first time posting but have viewed the site extensively recently in an attempt to educate myself on electric carts.

I just picked up a 1994 EZGO Medalist that already had a lift kit and big tires. The motor it came with (pic below) was built in 01 so I'm assuming that's when the mods were originally made to the cart. Controller is a Curtis 1205-117 (believe 400 amps from online research). I live in hilly terrain and with the big tires figured a high torque motor would be more advantages so I just installed a D&D 8hp high torque motor (pic below). The problem is I haven't seen any increased performance with the new motor. Is the controller limiting the performance meaning the motor isn't reaching it's potential? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[cgtech]

What little I can see of your cables, they look pretty shady to me. I would suggest replacing all of them with 4g, or 2g welding cable.

[bkoether]

I can definitely replace the cables easy enough. I guess my main question is regarding the controller and what kind out output I can expect from it. I'm not sure if it's what came stock or not and how much it will limit the motor capabilities.

[Sideways]

In addition to what CG stated also take a look at the state of charge of your battery pack as well as each individual battery. (see the chart below)
You might want to consider upgrading to 48v (I am assuming the cart is still 36v)

[scottyb]

The Curtis 1205-117 controller came in many sizes. The size of this controller should be on the ID tag on the end opposite the terminals. Size does matter

[bkoether]

Thanks for the input. Yes it is 36v and the pack is brand new. I'd love to convert to 48v but don't have the cash for batteries and a new controller at the moment. Of course the label on the current controller is at the worst possible spot to get a view without taking the whole thing off, but I believe it says 400? I'll post the best pics i could get and let you be the judge. I guess I'll try the new cables and see if that makes any difference and then go from there. I'll update when I get them on. Thanks again!

[WalterM6]

I looked that motor up. It says to expect 12 mph. It's a torque @2780rpm.

[bkoether]

Yea I'm good with 12mph, my place has some steep grades so I'm mainly interested in torque. It just seems to bog down on the hills still after the motor upgrade. With what limited information I know about carts, (mainly from this site), my understanding is volts for speed and amps for torque...if that's correct it stands to reason the motor just isn't getting enough current to reach it's potential. Fingers crossed it's just poor cables but i have a suspicion that it might be a lower amp controller which I believe would account for the poor performance. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[WalterM6]

I looked at the label on your controller and I read 500. That should be good enough for any hill. After you take a ride up and around some hills check the cable connections for heat. Not talking warm talking about almost burning. That would indicate a bad connection. That one picture of a cable you posted looked like it got serious hot. Also check the motor and the F/R sw for heat.

[bkoether]

Will do...I'm really curious about the controller size now, might bite the bullet and detach it so I see what the label says. Keep ya updated.