Electrical Issues

[Lochlin]

My post got cut off. Voltage limiters allow higher input voltages but a set output, normally 12v.

Yes 17+ v is too high. 13.5 - 14 is right where you want to be.

Not sure what the deal is with the different voltages at different places. I have always tested at the battery.

[sho305]

You don't want to hit 15v, unless its below zero out. Anything that runs on 12v should tolerate 10-15v no problem, its standard tolerance. You hit 15 that is getting too much, many things will shut off at 10v such as car audio components. You should always wire to the battery on G2/G9, if you need to use factory power use a relay.

[GaryMAc]

Originally Posted by sho305

You don't want to hit 15v, unless its below zero out. Anything that runs on 12v should tolerate 10-15v no problem, its standard tolerance. You hit 15 that is getting too much, many things will shut off at 10v such as car audio components. You should always wire to the battery on G2/G9, if you need to use factory power use a relay.

I have wired to the battery for the LEDs Im going to check further into limiters for the lights. Im tired of blowing lights. Got a new one on order and this time I want it to work LOL.

Tell me about the relay?

[sho305]

If you want something to work when the key is on for example, you run a relay off the key wire usually white/red wire. Then run the other side fused off battery and to your lights, then lights ground back to battery. That way only the relay runs off the key wire and they don't take any power. The yamaha cart only handles 10A to run the whole cart other than the gen when it starts just uses the battery cables.

Normally you can use bosch type relays for this stuff they are 30A and used for lots of automotive things, and are cheap. They look like a square little under 1" cube. Make it easy and buy the plug/harness for it too they work nice. They were $3-4 each last time I bought some.

If your voltage stays under about 14.5v you should have no problems with over volt, actually in hot weather it should be under 14 at full charge. They need more power in cold and some VR will compensate and charge more in cold but I don't know if carts do. 13.5v will keep your battery topped off at all times.

[GaryMAc]

Originally Posted by sho305

If you want something to work when the key is on for example, you run a relay off the key wire usually white/red wire. Then run the other side fused off battery and to your lights, then lights ground back to battery. That way only the relay runs off the key wire and they don't take any power. The yamaha cart only handles 10A to run the whole cart other than the gen when it starts just uses the battery cables.

Normally you can use bosch type relays for this stuff they are 30A and used for lots of automotive things, and are cheap. They look like a square little under 1" cube. Make it easy and buy the plug/harness for it too they work nice. They were $3-4 each last time I bought some.

If your voltage stays under about 14.5v you should have no problems with over volt, actually in hot weather it should be under 14 at full charge. They need more power in cold and some VR will compensate and charge more in cold but I don't know if carts do. 13.5v will keep your battery topped off at all times.

I may need to step up the voltage a bit. I notice that when the light is on and I start the engine the light flickers and then after a few seconds it goes out. This shouldn't happen, what causes the light to flicker?

[cgtech]

Well, what's the voltage at while driving? It may be too high, and the regulator in the leds are shutting down to protect.

[GaryMAc]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Well, what's the voltage at while driving? It may be too high, and the regulator in the leds are shutting down to protect.

With it in neutral and the throttle wide open it reads between 13.5 -14 V

The LED bar light flickers More so at low speed than high speed. Will the limiter solv the problem. I have looked online for limiters and is kinda vague what I need.

[GaryMAc]

Ok I checked with Metro Golf Cars in Fort Worth and he said the only way I can keep the lights from flickering is with a capacitor like the ones they use on audio systems. The flickering is caused by the oscillation from the voltage regulator causing brown outs.

Any suggestions on which capacitor to use?

[sho305]

The battery should level the voltage out, but I know mine flickers a little too. Get one that is at least 1mf they are a pop can size thing unless you get the more expensive super caps. Some of them are a flat brick now with multiple small caps instead. Wire it across the led wires. Cap has a pos and neg just like a battery and that is how you wire it, on the thing you want to level the voltage on. I don't know if brand makes that much difference, the more mf (micro farad) the more it can store.

If you don't get one for car stereo use, make sure you get the right kind. They are 20v DC caps. I see one on amazon for 25 shipped about, a 2mf. You might ebay a 1 or 2mf, that is where I got one cheap. A 1mf would run a car stereo for over 30 seconds, just the HU playing music into two speakers.

[cgtech]

With this cap idea, wouldn't you need a diode to keep it from just feeding back towards the battery/charging system. When we were talking about flicker, I thought we were talking about actually tuning off & on. But we are talking about brighter & dimmer. My old halogens did that, but my LEDs don't do it at all.