36 or 48

[stellix]

It gets too hot to touch, after a pretty good run I can smell a little something

[JohnnieB]

I have a couple DMMs with temperature functions, so I attached a thermocouple to the motor case near one of the bolts holding a Field winding in place. The 85°F shown is ambient motor temp before driving cart.

The highest temp I ever saw on the stock PDS motor was 224°F and the highest I've seen on the D&D so far is 190°F.

I've heard that the non-contact IR thermometers work pretty well for checking motor temp.
The thing to remember is that the case temperature continues to climb after the cart stops.
The heat is generated in the windings and it takes time for it to heat up the case, and the case doesn't get as hot as the windings.
The actual rating for Class H insulation is 180°C, but is de-rated to 115°C for the indirect measurement technique. (Case Temp)

--------------
I also used the same DMM to measure motor RPM, using the Speed sensor output.

[stellix]

Thanks for all the info. I'm going to check my speed I'm getting now with the 36 volt motor and then install the 48 volt motor and check it. I'll post the results . I'm hoping for a little more torque with little to no loss of speed.

[stellix]

I installed the 48 volt motor tonight. After I got everything hooked up I turn the switch on and pushed the pedal and nothing but smoke from my controller. Everything is hooked up correctly, what could have happened? I reinstalled my old motor and still nothing, no lights on the controller and no clicking from the solenoid. I checked the big fuse between the batteries and the controller and it's fine. Could a bad motor fry the controller ?

[Sir Nuke]

if SMOKE really came out of it.......something inside its TOAST.




and seeing as how this is a sepex drive system.......before you disconnected any wires or started working on it in anyway......I hope you flipped the RUN/TOW switch to TOW.....right?

[stellix]

I'm pretty sure it came from the controller, it may have been the solenoid. I just checked it again and the diode a on the solenoid was real hot. I unhooked the batteries to make sure it didn't catch on fire while I'm sleeping ! I touched the negative side cable back to the battery and it arced so something is shorted somewhere. Can you get an Alltrax controller repaired?

[JohnnieB]

I know from personal experience that a catastrophic motor failure during operation can take out the controller and not blow the fuse.
(Stock PDS motor by AMD - Alltrax DCX 400 Controller - ANN250 Fuse)

To the best of my knowledge, an Alltrax DCX controller cannot be repaired.

I ended up replacing both motor and controller.

------
The hot diode doesn't sound right. Remove it and give it a try.
(System will work without the diode, but it should be installed for normal operation)

-------
Some sparking is normal when the last cable is connected, but arcing isn't.
There are some pretty large filter capacitors in the controller and charging them is what causes the sparking.

[stellix]

I'm sure the problem was the motor that I installed was bad. I drove it in the shop and swapped motors. Everything was installed correctly. As soon as I turn it on and pushed the pedal it smoked. I went back out to the shop to disconnect the batteries before I went bed and I rechecked everything. That's when I noticed the heat from I guess is the precharge resistor on top of the solenoid. I put my old motor back on this morning and I guess I'll have to order another controller. Should I replace the solenoid to?

[JohnnieB]

I didn't have to replace mine, but it was a 400A Continuous/1000a Peak Super Duty one.

The PDS to DCX adapter is probably okay also.

Scottyb has got DCX kits on sale right now and might be selling the controller alone for less. Give him a call.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/Custom_Options.html

[scottyb]

I hate to hear a story like this it's criminal somebody let that motor get into the hands of some one who would try to install it. Somebody somewhere knew that motor was a controller killer.