48v to 12v reducer for 2010 Club car precedent

[crogers79]

Good morning,

I am new to this forum and need some advice regarding my 2010 Club Car Precedent. I bought the basic light kit (head lamp & tail lights) and also bought 48v to 12v reducer. My questions will probably seem very elementary but again I'm pretty new at this. My first question is do I need a "reducer harness" to go with my voltage reducer? I can understand how to get pos/neg from reducer to batteries but can't figure out how to get single 12v wire from reducer to connect with light kit connector in front dash as the connector for light kit seems to have a plug and the 12v wire from reducer is simply a single wire. Also, are there tail light connectors in place in my 2010 Precedent? I've read they were wired that way until 2008, would I have to install those as well? Any guidance would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,

The Rookie

[flkeysdude359]

Likewise...I'm also a rookie and I am NOT an electrical guy, however, I can tell you this...

I recently purchased and installed a LED headlight/tail light kit on my 2008 1/2 Precedent. Precedents were wired with bucket/tail light harnesses up until 2008 1/2. As a result, I had to purchase and install an additional bucket harness for the tail lights. Not a big job...just took a little time. Next installation will be my on-board Save-a-Battery. Just picked up the Marinco Onboard Charger Inlet and will be mounting that shortly. One of my next purchases will be a 48v to 12v reducer...

I was warned...it never ends...

[sunking]

I am not going to tell you a model or brand to look for, but rather tell you what to look out for.

Look at the specs and find Input Current and Output Current. If they are roughly equal run way from it. At 48 to 12 volts Input Current should be roughly 1/4 Output Current.

Examples of 2 12 volt 10 amp converters, or 120 watt converter.

1. Input = 30 to 60 volts @ 10 amps.
Output = 12.6 volts @ 10 amps
RUN AWAY, DO NOT WALK


2. INPUT = 30 to 80 @ 2.6 amps
OUTPUT = 12.6 Volts @ 10 amps
This is the one you want.



The difference is the first one is a series regulator where Input Current = Output Current. He is what it really is telling you Input 480 Watts > Output 120 Watts. The missing power is being burned of as waste heat in the converter. For every 4 watts in you get only 1 watt out. That eats your battery alive.

The second one is a Switch Mode Converter. It converts the 48 volts DC to AC, then uses a transformer to step it down to 12 volt AC and then rectify to DC. So with Input 125 watts > Output 120 watts. The 5 missing watts is conversion losses or 96% efficient vs 25% of the first one. They Switch Mode will also be much smaller and lighter.

Price is also going to be a give away. A 120 watt Series converter is going to cost in the low 2 digits. A 120 watt switch mode will push high 2 digits up to 3 digits 1XX. You get what you pay for. Here is an example of a Switch Mode Converter.

[Sergio]

Definitely stay away from serial or linear type regulators, but just from the practical point of view, if You choose a 20amp to 30amp regulator, they are just about guaranteed to be a "buck", "Switch Mode" or "Flywheel" type regulators. It would not be practical for a 48v-12v converter to be linear at any high current.

The particular link posted was to an "isolated" converter. I would not use them unless You have a very specific reason for it, like using a AMP meter with a shunt. You can always use a small 12v-(to meter voltage) if You ever added one.

The practical reason is that You would always have to have a separate 12v negative bus as the input and output would have totally isolated connections.

I know that unit was just an example, but it is not water proof , definetely look for something with a little mote water proofing.

I also prefer the units with a trigger wire, that gives you a very low current load to connect to you key switch in order to turn the converter ON/OFF.

Here is an example of a unit that a lot of members use, and it is from a site sponsor.

[crogers79]

thank you for the help flkeysdude359, Sergio and sunking. this is great info to help me get started. wish me luck.

[passthru]

So for a couple of LED flood lights and a 50lb road feeders would you recommend a converter or a separate 12 volt source to minimize the drain on the main battery pack?

[Sergio]

Converter is the way to go.