New Guy Questions

[DocEldridge]

First, thanks for having me here. I'm new to carts (obviously) but last week I bought a 1995? ezgo that seems to be in pretty decent condition but I have a few issues. What I know... I was told it was a 1995, it has a 3" lift, knobbies and is a 36v system with the f/r under the seat. five of the batteries show 6.3v and one shows 6.1v. not sure of load values. two questions: the cart takes off great but slows considerably on even small grade hills and top speed is rather slow (when compared to my neighbors 2004) - is this a battery or motor problem and how to correct? Second, the drum brakes lock the wheels when even a small amount of pressure is applied and my kids are going to need helmets if this keeps up - any suggestions? Thanks in advance and sorry for the FNG questions!

[COURTESYCART]

raise the rear of the cart and put in drive and mash the gas, Check voltage with a voltmeter with cart running. You will need a max of .5v diff between batteries. You may have a weak battery. Check all connections, upgrade to 4ga wires if need be.

As far as brakes they are basically like car/truck drum brakes. I would remove that side drum and take a look, you may need shoes. If the shoe material is gone you are stopping using medal to medal which can cause locking up. Also check your brake cable operation, make sure it is not binding.

[DocEldridge]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll check all the above this weekend...

[dcannow]

Hey--BE CAREFUL "mashing the gas" on any electric cart with wheels off the ground and no load!! These motors can over-rev and blow themselves up. Check the threads and you can see pictures posted, by some that have "mashed the gas" before, of the pieces that can end up all over your garage floor!! You can check the brakes by turning hubs by hand. Dragging brakes could be part of your problem as it sounds like they are already an issue. See if you can free them up then give it a run to see if you have any improvement.

[COURTESYCART]

When I do this I am real quick on checking Voltage, Usually I have 2 other with meters getting measurements.

I have thought about the motors over-reving, but this seems to work pretty good for me.

[pizzamaker]

[dcannow]

"but this seems to work pretty good for me"-Thats what Evil Kneival said just prior to his last jumping accident. Sometimes learning, in order to convince, has to be a first party personal experience.



Welcome to the forum Doc.!!

[DocEldridge]

Thanks. Do you guys think the single battery with the 6.1v reading could be to blame and should be replaced?

[dcannow]

I shudder about replacing 1 battery unless you can find one same age,make,model, etc as the others. If these are Trojan batteries look on the Neg pad for a letter and number. Letter is month, starting with A and number is year of mfg. If they are over 4 years old I suggest you live with them until you can replace all at once. Trogan now has a decent lower cost battery called 605 that might work for you. Meantime check to see if those dragging brakes are contributing to the problem. If batteries are not Trojans come back on with stamped code and someone can help with age of brand.

[DocEldridge]

Thanks. BTW I appreciate all the help. Now if I could just get away from work long enough to start tinkering...