Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post - How does 48V 2001 Club Cart OBC function?

DrBob · 05-21-2009, 03:08 AM

Hi Guys,

Sorry I got delayed in responding. I really appreciate the information so far though.

Oxfordlawn: You are likely only a 10 min WOT drive to my place in The Villages - if they allowed us to use Fl CR466!

You asked "What is prompting all these questions about the OBC?"

Well I guess it is the engineer in me. I have found the documentation on about everything else in my 2001 DS Club Cart and it is very unnerving that probably the most key piece, the OBC, is just a black box, which so far even defies finding a functional description as given by the manufacturer.

I too have spent 10s of hours mostly looking, then reading all the info I can find on the web about it and even have a spare one in my hands. Having a background in computers and industrial controllers and looking at the interface it has with the rest of the parts, it is hard for me to believe some of the attributes it is claimed to have - if they are taken literately. I am pretty sure, where there is smoke, there is a fire somewhere close. It is just that I want to feel the flames!

So I am still out to see if the mystery behind the OBC can be broken.

Looking at the signature lines of some on this site, I believe it has folks with some design experience in companies that are in the same field as Club Car or Lester Electric. When I was in the commercial life (before retirement), I know I was well aware of what the state of the art was in my field. So I am confident there is more to be found than what we, together, have assembled so far.

Shadowman: Thanks for your additions. I agree with you that my potted OBC would he a bear to tear apart and still have the components operational. And repair would be even more difficult!

I have seen that there are many models of the Club OBC out there, but I am concentrating on the 2001-2002 DS Clubs, which both use my OBC - until you get to the 2002 DS IQ model. That said, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that Club evolved the OBC. If so, it is likely that OBCs a few years before the 2001-2002 models and even the models in the IQ and possibly Precedent bear a lot in common. If the electrical interface of a Club OBC is largely identical the the one in the wiring diagram I posted, it is likely the functionality is equally similar. Now if the OBC interfaces to many different or fewer parts, all bets are off.

Autoslot: Well you must have married a pretty clever gal if her Mom moved to The Villages. I hope you have taken the opportunity to see this Once in the World community with over 600 holes of golf and likely well over 25,000 golf carts and hundreds of miles of golf cart safe streets and paths. But more on that is the topic for another discussion in a different forum.

Thanks for the link to the other thread. It actually concentrated pretty much on the charger interface to the charging system. All of what he said on that interface with the cart, I believe to be true and so a valuable confirmation of what has been posted. The schematic diagram of the charger was a lot neater than the one I drew from inspecting my Powerglide though.

And back to Oxfordlawn. You clever devil! Of course there is more to the story.

And it is a fairly long one on which I have tons of data that I believe we will find interesting. I will share all this with everyone, but since I have a fully operational cart that is serving as a test bed, I really want to get the role the OBC plays as clearly defined as possible, as it will have a strong bearing on interpreting what is to come.

Cheers....

05-21-2009, 03:08 AM	#9
DrBob Not Yet Wild Join Date: May 2009 Location: The Villages, Fl Posts: 37	Re: How does 48V 2001 Club Cart OBC function? Hi Guys, Sorry I got delayed in responding. I really appreciate the information so far though. Oxfordlawn: You are likely only a 10 min WOT drive to my place in The Villages - if they allowed us to use Fl CR466! You asked "What is prompting all these questions about the OBC?" Well I guess it is the engineer in me. I have found the documentation on about everything else in my 2001 DS Club Cart and it is very unnerving that probably the most key piece, the OBC, is just a black box, which so far even defies finding a functional description as given by the manufacturer. I too have spent 10s of hours mostly looking, then reading all the info I can find on the web about it and even have a spare one in my hands. Having a background in computers and industrial controllers and looking at the interface it has with the rest of the parts, it is hard for me to believe some of the attributes it is claimed to have - if they are taken literately. I am pretty sure, where there is smoke, there is a fire somewhere close. It is just that I want to feel the flames! So I am still out to see if the mystery behind the OBC can be broken. Looking at the signature lines of some on this site, I believe it has folks with some design experience in companies that are in the same field as Club Car or Lester Electric. When I was in the commercial life (before retirement), I know I was well aware of what the state of the art was in my field. So I am confident there is more to be found than what we, together, have assembled so far. Shadowman: Thanks for your additions. I agree with you that my potted OBC would he a bear to tear apart and still have the components operational. And repair would be even more difficult! I have seen that there are many models of the Club OBC out there, but I am concentrating on the 2001-2002 DS Clubs, which both use my OBC - until you get to the 2002 DS IQ model. That said, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that Club evolved the OBC. If so, it is likely that OBCs a few years before the 2001-2002 models and even the models in the IQ and possibly Precedent bear a lot in common. If the electrical interface of a Club OBC is largely identical the the one in the wiring diagram I posted, it is likely the functionality is equally similar. Now if the OBC interfaces to many different or fewer parts, all bets are off. Autoslot: Well you must have married a pretty clever gal if her Mom moved to The Villages. I hope you have taken the opportunity to see this Once in the World community with over 600 holes of golf and likely well over 25,000 golf carts and hundreds of miles of golf cart safe streets and paths. But more on that is the topic for another discussion in a different forum. Thanks for the link to the other thread. It actually concentrated pretty much on the charger interface to the charging system. All of what he said on that interface with the cart, I believe to be true and so a valuable confirmation of what has been posted. The schematic diagram of the charger was a lot neater than the one I drew from inspecting my Powerglide though. And back to Oxfordlawn. You clever devil! Of course there is more to the story. And it is a fairly long one on which I have tons of data that I believe we will find interesting. I will share all this with everyone, but since I have a fully operational cart that is serving as a test bed, I really want to get the role the OBC plays as clearly defined as possible, as it will have a strong bearing on interpreting what is to come. Cheers....