unhooking Regen

[49ford]

Is there an easy way to unhook the regen on my 02 PDS? I looked in archives until my eyes started swimming.
I don't need the regen function and I hate the braking downhill.

[bigstik40]

If your 02 will accept a speed chip (and I think it will), that would eliminate regen. Just so you know, it will also bump top speed up to almost 20 mph. Just google TXT,PDS speed chip and it is fairly inexpensive. I'm sure others will respond with other options. RAY

[49ford]

THANK YOU! got parts coming. I'm gonna try the magnet deal. No regen and a little speed also.

[cgtech]

The braking downhill is there to keep you from exploding the parts inside the motor, but you might figure that out (they can really blow apart). You should seriously consider the top speed on flat ground to also be your top speed down hill. When the motor is destroyed by overspeed, 95% of the time kills the controller too. This could get pricey. The magnet will double the Rpm allowed downhill, squarely in the "danger of damage" region. The Freedom "personality plug" bumps speed to about 19mph, and eliminates all Regen braking, except for the "you are about to blow your motor" limit, safer.

[agpfl]

Does the speed magnet really work? Would it trick the controller into thinking the motor is only spinning at 1/2 or 1/4 of the speed it really is?

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by agpfl

Does the speed magnet really work? Would it trick the controller into thinking the motor is only spinning at 1/2 or 1/4 of the speed it really is?

On a 48v txt, yes (some club cars, no). It tricks the controller into thinking the motor is spinning half as fast as it really is. On flat ground it won't double your speed, but it could speeding down a hill. And that could cause drastic overspeed of the motor, potentially destroying motor (and usually controller too).

[Cruise Master]

You know, reading is a very dangerous thing. I read on the Alltrax website that a carts mechanical brake is designed for 15-18mph. Going downhill without a "jake brake" (regen) could be interesting to say the least. Add a lift to the cart so the CG is higher, and heck you could get yourself into some serious kind of fun going down a hill with a turn at the bottom or a stop light.

[49ford]

The stock brakes on a txt will stop you from 30 mph. I have done it personally many times on a AC conversion cart. The brakes were in good shape and you don't do it over and over,(heat soak).
I also have a Yamaha G14 that goes 20-21 and its brakes work at that speed. And again, brakes were in good shape as I always check and repair my carts before I put them on the road.

What I don't get is why you say the magnet deal won't let the motor spin faster on level ground? The controller normally limits the speed, up to the motors ability to push the carts resistance, doesn't it? So why if you "remove" the rpm limit , can't the cart run on up to its potential?

Also, my cart is 36 volt, stock tire, non lifted, rear seat. CG answered "on a 48 volt" to which of these two questions," does it work, or does it trick it into seeing 1/2 or 1/4 speed". My question, doesn't work on 36 or not as well?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by 49ford

The stock brakes on a txt will stop you from 30 mph. I have done it personally many times on a AC conversion cart. The brakes were in good shape and you don't do it over and over,(heat soak).
I also have a Yamaha G14 that goes 20-21 and its brakes work at that speed. And again, brakes were in good shape as I always check and repair my carts before I put them on the road.

What I don't get is why you say the magnet deal won't let the motor spin faster on level ground? The controller normally limits the speed, up to the motors ability to push the carts resistance, doesn't it? So why if you "remove" the rpm limit , can't the cart run on up to its potential?

Also, my cart is 36 volt, stock tire, non lifted, rear seat. CG answered "on a 48 volt" to which of these two questions," does it work, or does it trick it into seeing 1/2 or 1/4 speed". My question, doesn't work on 36 or not as well?

My mechanical brakes can lock up the rear tires on dry pavement at about any speed the cart will reach, but whenever possible, I use regen braking to slow the cart down to about 15 MPH or so before applying them. Partially because I like the concept of recovering energy that would have been lost as heat otherwise, and partially to reduce the workload on the mechanical brakes.

BTW - CG didn't say the cart wouldn't go faster on level ground, he said the speed would not double. He also went on to say there was a possibility of over-revving the motor going downhill.

Both the Curtis 1206MX (36V PDS) and 1206HB (TXT-48V) limit the motor RPM to a maximum of about 4400RPM, which is 18.9 MPH with 18" tall tires and 12.44:1 gears. When the controller is told the motor is only spinning half as fast is it actually is by using a magnet disk with half the number of pairs of poles, a 36V battery pack will spin a stock 36V PDS motor at about 5600RPM, which is about 24MPH and a 48V battery pack will spin a stock TXT-48V motor at about 5600 RPM for about the same top speed on level ground.

In a nutshell, both a 36V PDS and a TXT-48V will retain their respective performance characteristics, but will go about 24 MPH on level ground instead of being limited to about 19 MPH. A TXT-48V intrinsically has better performance characteristics than a 36V PDS, so comparing the two outcomes is somewhat akin to comparing apples to oranges. In other words the outcomes are roughly the same for both carts, but the carts a different to start with.

[49ford]

Okay. I misread cg post. Thanks for clearing up several things. Still deciding what to do.
BTW, I pulled the weather cover and it has a no tamper seal on the white plug with red looped wires. Looks just like what they are selling for freedom chips.