Bypassing the solenoid
 

Hi. First of all I want to thank all of those on here who have shared information and their experiences because it has saved me untold amounts of money in repairs. I was having problems with my 96 Club Car 48V so I picked up another solenoid. It turns out the one I got was for year models 98 and above but I hooked it up anyway and it didn't work. I remembered reading something on here about bypassing the solenoid by jumping the two posts on it so I did that and it works like a charm now. My question is, can I drive it like this or will this do alot of damage to the cart? My oldest son wants to use it to go fishing but I'm unsure if I should let him before I get a chance to go get the proper year model solenoid and install it. Thanks!

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

Did you get the proper voltage solenoid? If so it will work... You can use the original solenoid too, your problem was likely in the activation circuit, not a failure of the switch contacts. Hope this helps:

A quick overview of the solenoid is :
The solenoid is a HD on/off switch or Contactor
the connection is made /broken between the 2 large terminals. The 2 small terminals are the activation circuit. typically one terminal will have a constant negative connection to the pack. When Positive power is applied to the second small terminal the contact is drawn up against the spring to make contact. When power from either side of the activation circuit is removed then contact is released and the spring pushes it away interrupting the circuit ...It doesn't matter which small terminal is neg or pos on the activation circuit so long as you have both....

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

It does help alot and I thank you. The new solenoid is a 48V and I guess an original part because it has club car as the brand on it but I had to rig it up to mount it and it was a little tight on the wiring. I called Gulf States Golf Carts where I purchased the solenoid and they too said it should still work but I couldn't get much out of it. Until I get the issure resolved is it ok to run the cart with a jumper on it like that for a day or two or do I risk doing serious damage to it?

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

Without offering any gaurantees, I ran my cart for 2 mths with the large posts bridged and came to no harm, but it is not the recommended way. Be carefull when u connect battery or solenoid wires,:shock: they will spark quite alarmingly.

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

I hope it won't be that long before I can get it checked out but I appreciate the response, it makes me feel a little better about using it today anyway

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

The solenoid is a safety device. Without it you have no way to turn the power off should anything go wrong with the throttle input device or the speed control.
The speed control will be constantly energized with the jumper on and that is not good for it. It is designed to be on when you push the peddle only.

It is absolutely not recommended to run the cart with the jumper cable on.

The jumper cable is nconclusive testing stunt :thumbdown:

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

I think maybe I won't be using it today. Again, thanks

Re: Bypassing the solenoid
 

Likely your original solenoid is still good.
Your problem could be as simple as a bad $5 micro switch on F&R switch or as big as a failed OBC. Is the Cart charging normally?