Electric... Golf Cart Quetion (for you electric Gurus)

V8Cobrakid · 02-11-2008, 02:04 PM

I have this problem with my electric golf cart. it keeps overheating in certain areas. first it was the cables so we replaced them with thicker braided copper lines. Now it's controllers and other pieces burning up every week.

ok.. it's not me.. it's my father burning things up.

i'm trying to figure out how to stop pieces from burning up.

So far.. my best guess it that one of the batteries is failing so it's causing too much resistance int he line.. which is heating things up.. am i correct? what's a good way to test for this?

qbee42 · 02-11-2008, 02:34 PM

This is somewhat complex. A high resistance in a battery will cause the battery to heat up, but will lower the voltage available to the rest of the system. A lower voltage normally means lower current, but motors are non-linear resistance devices. Trying to run a motor on a lower voltage can cause the motor to draw more amperage, which in turn can burn out controllers, cables, and such.

To test the internal resistance of your battery, measure the rest voltage of the battery and the voltage under load. The load voltage will always be lower, but the amount of drop will increase as the battery resistance goes up. Compare this to a known good battery under the same conditions.

Tom

V8Cobrakid · 02-11-2008, 03:01 PM

so driving it untill it's close to dead is probably a really really bad idea.. especially since the resting point is on the top of the hills. (nice climb back up)

he only burns up things once the system starts to die... so.. flooring it to get it up the last bigs of hill before it dies.

resting voltage is 6volts for all the batteries.. i haven't tested them while under a load.

thanks for the input.

02-11-2008, 02:04 PM	#1
V8Cobrakid Green Handyman Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Park View, Los Angeles, CA. U.S.A Posts: 3,701 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: N/A Package: #9 Thanks: 36 Thanked 109 Times in 102 Posts Friends: 6	Electric... Golf Cart Quetion (for you electric Gurus) I have this problem with my electric golf cart. it keeps overheating in certain areas. first it was the cables so we replaced them with thicker braided copper lines. Now it's controllers and other pieces burning up every week. ok.. it's not me.. it's my father burning things up. i'm trying to figure out how to stop pieces from burning up. So far.. my best guess it that one of the batteries is failing so it's causing too much resistance int he line.. which is heating things up.. am i correct? what's a good way to test for this? __________________ Silver #9 '04 - over 168,000 Miles (as of 1/23/2013) Decals, BT Tech Rear Brace, coastaletech 2" receiver hitch (light connectors, the works), 215/50/17 tires, Civic Battery (moded) (PSD fluid @ 146,000) _How to Change your Key fob Battery_ -new video-

02-11-2008, 02:34 PM	#2
qbee42 My other car is a boat Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Michigan Posts: 17,741 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: N/A Package: #7 Thanks: 1,354 Thanked 2,796 Times in 1,879 Posts Friends: 19	Re: Electric... Golf Cart Quetion (for you electric Gurus) This is somewhat complex. A high resistance in a battery will cause the battery to heat up, but will lower the voltage available to the rest of the system. A lower voltage normally means lower current, but motors are non-linear resistance devices. Trying to run a motor on a lower voltage can cause the motor to draw more amperage, which in turn can burn out controllers, cables, and such. To test the internal resistance of your battery, measure the rest voltage of the battery and the voltage under load. The load voltage will always be lower, but the amount of drop will increase as the battery resistance goes up. Compare this to a known good battery under the same conditions. Tom __________________ *Black* 2006 package #7 Northern Michigan

02-11-2008, 03:01 PM	#3
V8Cobrakid Green Handyman Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Park View, Los Angeles, CA. U.S.A Posts: 3,701 My Car: 2004 Prius Model: N/A Package: #9 Thanks: 36 Thanked 109 Times in 102 Posts Friends: 6	Re: Electric... Golf Cart Quetion (for you electric Gurus) so driving it untill it's close to dead is probably a really really bad idea.. especially since the resting point is on the top of the hills. (nice climb back up) he only burns up things once the system starts to die... so.. flooring it to get it up the last bigs of hill before it dies. resting voltage is 6volts for all the batteries.. i haven't tested them while under a load. thanks for the input.