Almost burned my cart and garage down last night

[bbbdale]

I was changing the charging port box on my TXT 36v. I had everything back together, but the box wasn’t closing tight, so I opened it back up and thats when the white wire jumped on top of the black wire. At first all I saw was bright lights and then smoke started filling up the garage. I managed to separate the connection with a screwdriver, but not before all the insulation and plastic melted off the wires.

Now I’m that guy that changes out ceiling fans and light fixtures without turning off the breaker, of course the switch is off. But if 36v can do this, I don’t want to see 110/220.

I did have enough smarts or just got lucky and switched the cart to TOW before I started working on it, so I probably saved my Controller and Solenoid. I did jump my reed switch wire straight to the battery and the cart still runs thank goodness.

I will ALWAYS disconnect the main wires to the battery from now on.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Swan]

ouch , your lucky could have been a lot worse

[Bama Brad]

You are like me...learning by doing. Glad it wasn't worse! I know enough about electricity to be scared of it!

[Capt. Lenny]

Glad you didn't burn anything but the wiring harness up but I wonder why your charging lead isn't protected by a fuse?

[crash12888]

"But if 36v can do this, I don’t want to see 110/220"

Big difference between AMPS and VOLTS!!

[ThreeCW]

Wow

Your charging circuit became a toaster element real quick even at 36 volts as you point out.

Thanks for sharing your learnings … a good wake up call to the rest of us highlighting to us “amateur electricians” not to work on live circuits and the importance of the Run / Tow switch (if your cart has one)

Glad that you ended up with only minimal damage !!

[bbbdale]

Originally Posted by Capt. Lenny

Glad you didn't burn anything but the wiring harness up but I wonder why your charging lead isn't protected by a fuse?

Not sure why. Just bought the cart 2 weeks ago. Never checked for a fuse on the charging cable.

Just got the cart finished Tuesday and the buyer is coming tomorrow. Would have hurt my wallet if it had done major damage.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mfinnegan]

your 110 breaker will pop before it gets anywhere near the amps those wires just took. holy crap

[crash12888]

Originally Posted by mfinnegan

your 110 breaker will pop before it gets anywhere near the amps those wires just took. holy crap

People need to understand it's not the volts that will ruin underwear, it's the amps!
A normal household wall circuit will be 110volts at either 15amp or 20amp, that's like touching your tongue to a new 9V battery,
While a basic electric cart is 36volts but able to produce on average 300 to 400 AMPS!, that's where the pain comes from.....

[DaveTM]

Originally Posted by crash12888

"But if 36v can do this, I don’t want to see 110/220"

Big difference between AMPS and VOLTS!!

Yup....as others have stated.....those amps in a golf cart will kill you quickly if you're not careful.

Stay safe!!