Motor voltage
 

The nameplate on my motor says 36v. It a 93 Marathon. I've been under the impression that it can handle 48v. Should it be stamped 36-48v or something like that.

Re: Motor voltage
 

Nope, that 36v series motor will work just fine on 48v, and you will love the performance boost!

Re: Motor voltage
 

Thanks. I just bought new batteries and a controller so I was starting to get twisted. I went with a cheaper controller that I heard really mixed reviews, it's a big amp upgrade so if I can get a couple years out if it and then buy a great controller I'll be happy.

Re: Motor voltage
 

This cart came with a 300-350 amp controller.
When moving up in voltage amperage use will be reduced while performance will increase 33% in both speed and torque.
A big controller is needed if you have really big tires,big loads, and big hills or a big motor.
Considering the Alltrax 400 has a peak amp output of 460 and sustained outputs that match most 500 amp controls this would have been my choice with it's 2 year free replacement warranty.

Re: Motor voltage
 

Hi Scotty, I don't doubt your reasoning. I just wanted to get this cart running decently at this point. I did install the solenoid and FR that you recommend, but after the batteries I just could only manage a cheaper controller. My goal is to put a new controller and motor after I kill the overtime this sumner. Since I have you guys looking at the thread, I'm hooking up the battery bank and I am getting alot of spark, any way to reduce that?

Re: Motor voltage
 

So I've determined that it is the negative from the voltage reducers 48v side. Make a good pop when I try to land the neg. What's up with that when there's no load.

Re: Motor voltage
 

That pop/spark is normal as long as it's not anything crazy big. My reducer does the same thing and I freaked out the first time and thought I burned up the reducer but it was OK.

Re: Motor voltage
 

Ok. Thanks

Re: Motor voltage
 

When the battery pack has been disconnected for more than a few seconds, you're very likely to get a spark when the last cable is reconnected, whether the last cable is + or -.

The controller has a bank of filter capacitors that are always connected between B- and B+ via the pre-charge resistor or within the controller via a control wire that always has voltage on it. The reason for keeping the filter capacitors charged is to reduce the amount of arcing on the solenoid contacts when they close. There are a great variety of voltage reducers out there and most have filter capacitors that are kept charged.

The net effect is that there is a momentary load if the filter capacitors of either the controller or voltage reducer are less than fully charged when the cable that completes the circuit is landed.

The arc is unavoidable, but one way to reduce it is to connect a resistor (1kΩ or so) between the terminal and last cable landed for a few moments before landing the cable.

Re: Motor voltage
 

Makes sense thanks.