Oops, I Shorted the G29 Reverse Buzzer - Now What?

[Vendetta]

Hey guys,

First post here outside of the intro thread.

So jumping right in... First of all, if you're anything like me, you're WAY smarter than you sometimes act. Especially when it comes to tinkering with electrics. Not home wiring (okay, maybe sometimes home wiring), because I've been "bitten" a few times and now it's breakers OFF before I do anything. But golf carty DC stuff seems mostly non threatening as long I'm staying around the console and not messing with motor wiring and such.

Which brings me to my latest self-inflicted problem. I was messing with the reverse buzzer with the intent of maybe hooking up a reverse light from those leads. Only problem, the leads were live when I was pulling them and they glanced into each other ever so briefly.

When I hooked the buzzer back up, it still worked, but was MUCH quieter than before.

Multimeter shows 50+ from the batts, and mid 40's to the buzzer when hot. If I jump the buzzer to the batts directly, it sounds the way it did pre-short. Looking through the helpful threads here, it appears that my forward/reverse switch or the reverse limit switch could be the possible culprits. I've got a Fwd/Rev on order and will start there when it arrives.

Anything else you guys think I should be looking at?

Thanks,
-V

[cgtech]

G29 doesnt use f&r or any "limit switch" directly to power the reverse buzzer, its powered by the motor controller. (That's how the controller activates it to alert you that the cart is moving without any driver input). You have damaged the circuit in the controller.

[Vendetta]

Originally Posted by cgtech

G29 doesnt use f&r or any "limit switch" directly to power the reverse buzzer, its powered by the motor controller. (That's how the controller activates it to alert you that the cart is moving without any driver input). You have damaged the circuit in the controller.

Lovely. Thanks for what sounds like a pretty definitive answer, cgtech. Any guesses on prognosis, given that the cart still runs seemingly fine in both forward and reverse? The only symptom is that the buzzer is receiving ~10% lower voltage than it was pre-short. F/R full throttle speeds both seem consistent with those observed pre-short.

-V

[cgtech]

Controller will likely be fine, and buzzer will not get any better as long as that controller is in there. Kinda ruins your plans of a reverse light. But, that's a 48v circuit, so I'm not sure what 48v light you had in mind.

[Vendetta]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Controller will likely be fine, and buzzer will not get any better as long as that controller is in there. Kinda ruins your plans of a reverse light. But, that's a 48v circuit, so I'm not sure what 48v light you had in mind.

Okay, so it's not the worst unforced error I've ever made then.

As for lighting, you see, I didn't know what vdc was coming off that circuit which is why I was poking around in there with the multimeter to begin with. Does it reeeeally ruin my plans though? Normally I'd say I don't care what I gotta break to make it work - and I usually do both. Keeps me busy.

But that circuit is still receiving 40-something volts. So maybe a splice off the buzzer feed and something something something resistor something along the feed to the reverse light to step it down to 12vdc could do the trick? Thoughts welcome.

And as for the buzzer, I don't mind it not being so obnoxiously loud any more. In fact, now I can pull off the tape I slapped over the hole 6 moths ago to shut the thing up.

Thanks, cg.
-V

[kgsc]

48 volt relay switching the 12 volt lights but need to measure what the voltage is now. May need smaller

[Vendetta]

Originally Posted by kgsc

48 volt relay switching the 12 volt lights but need to measure what the voltage is now. May need smaller

So just for haha's after driving it around a bit, I decided to meter it to answer your post. And would't you know, I got some fluctuation between a low of 49.9 and a high of 52.7vdc, eventually resolving steady at around 51vdc over multiple tests. That'll be what I have to step to 12vdc.

So I'm thinking hey, I'll just connect the buzzer like it never happened. Nope, that would be too easy. Now it seems like my buzzer is shot. And before you say nice job there, fella, it was your buzzer all along... It really wasn't. That circuit was metering out in the low to mid 40s after the short. We swears on the precious! I'm thinking I fried the buzzer jumping it straight from the battery at multiple points along the circuit a few days ago, definitely undervolted it a few times playing around with different volumes at different voltages. Good times.

Anyway, next up... new buzzer.

-V

[kgsc]

Might put out that voltage with nothing attached but won’t know until you put a buzzer back in there. I’d go ahead and get the relay for your lights

[Vendetta]

Originally Posted by kgsc

Might put out that voltage with nothing attached but won’t know until you put a buzzer back in there. I’d go ahead and get the relay for your lights

Haven't made any changes, but this morning the buzzer circuit is metering 47ish vdc. Batt charge was topped off and plugged in when metered last night, same this morning. Is it normal to get these kinds of fluctuations? ~10%?

Also, leaving the meter connected, I pushed the cart forward and backward and did observe spiking V to the meter, so the controller is still attempting to chirp the absent buzzer.

-V

[cgtech]

Originally Posted by Vendetta

...Is it normal to get these kinds of fluctuations? ~10%?
...
-V

Lol, uh no, not normal. But, you already fixed its "normalcy problem"... your pretty funny too