Voltage reducer 48 to 12 volts

[Ptom]

I have a 2014 Precedent with light kit and horn. Dealer installed light kit I installed horn
It appears that lights and horn are working on 16 volts not 12 volts. Dealer told me it does not have a reducer. Should I be concerned and install a 48 to 12 volt reducer?
Thanks for your assistance.

[twilliams81]

Halogen or LED?

Halogen lights are more likely to be able to handle the 16v more than some LED light kits. Although I’ve installed a lot of LED kits that have handled the 16v well; the safer option over time is a reducer for LED kits


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[Ptom]

Led lights

[twilliams81]

Originally Posted by Ptom

Led lights

there will always be a chance you could lose some LED’s over time if you don’t use a reducer. Risking it is just a cheaper and less time consuming option.


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[Ptom]

Can you please advise how to install a reducer thanks

[Fairtax4me]

Most LED lights use a driver the provides the proper voltage for the LEDs regardless of input voltage. Many will operate just fine anywhere from 10 up to 30+ volts.

The biggest thing to worry about on a golf cart is the current draw coming from only two batteries. It will eventually make those two out of balance with the rest of the pack and can damage them due to undercharging, and cause damage to the other batteries by causing them to overcharge. Batteries are alot more expensive than a reducer.

The reducers sold by ScottyB at Cartsunlimited are easy to install and work with the key switch so they don't draw power when the cart is not in use. He also provides clear wire diagrams for installation.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/12v-reducers.html

[Ptom]

With dealer installed club car wire harness the voltage draw should be from all
6 - 8 volt batteries ? The wire harnes reduces voltage from 48 to 16 volts?
Thanks

[yawood]

Originally Posted by Ptom

With dealer installed club car wire harness the voltage draw should be from all
6 - 8 volt batteries ? The wire harnes reduces voltage from 48 to 16 volts?
Thanks

No. Unless you have 48V LED lights (unlikely) then you either need to have a reducer or operate from only two batteries.

As Fairtax4me said, it is wise to buy a 48V-12V reducer from Revolution Golf Cars (David) or Carts Unlimited (Scotty) because they are good quality and have a fifth (trigger) wire which makes them easy to install. Also you can buy, from them, reducers that are plug-and-play for your harness.

[Ptom]

Thanks this what i thought however dealer told wire harness had reducer built in
I do not have factory reducer bought a cheap one from China. Same one I used on a 97 DS. Just need to figure out how to install. Any suggestions.

[yawood]

Attachment 182651

Originally Posted by Ptom

I do not have factory reducer bought a cheap one from China. Same one I used on a 97 DS. Just need to figure out how to install. Any suggestions.

Yeah, I have one of those and it's been no problem for the couple of years that I've had it. There is extra installation with these if you want to operate it through a switch or connect it to the wiring harness.

Originally Posted by Ptom

Thanks this what i thought however dealer told wire harness had reducer built in

In your original post you said

Dealer told me it does not have a reducer.

Let's see if we can find out which is right (put the cart into TOW before you make or break any connections to the batteries).

Do you have any wires coming from any battery other than the pack positive or the pack negative? If you do it will probably be on the second battery +ve from the pack negative OR on the second battery -ve from the pack positive. If that is the case then you are getting 16V from those two batteries. That 16V is either feeding your lights and horn with 16V or it is going to a 16V to 12V reducer which outputs 12V for the lights and horn. You can check this connection by disconnecting that wire and then trying the lights and horn again (reconnect that battery cable, with that wire disconnected, and switch back to RUN). If they don't work then that connection must have been supplying power. So, in that case we now know that you are powering from 16V. Reconnect that wire and measure the voltage at the lights or horn. If it is 16V then there is no reducer but if it is 12V then you have a 16V to 12V reducer somewhere.

To connect the 48V to 12V reducer:
Work out which are the 48V input wires and the 12V output wires (usually the 12V output wires are red for +12V and black for -12V). The reducer +48V connects to the pack +ve (No 1 battery) through a fuse located close to the battery terminal. The -48V connects to the black wire with the yellow bullet connector behind the batteries on your Precedent. See the picture. Use the wire sizes and fuse size shown in the diagram.

If you simply connect it like that it will work fine but it will be running all the time. If you want to be able to switch it on or off then the positive lead will need to go through a switch or a relay. My diagram has both, and is connected to the key switch as well. This means that nothing happens unless the key is turned on, then the reducer can be turned on or off separately by the toggle switch. The toggle switch only provides enough power to activate the relay and the relay supplies the 48V to the reducer. You could omit the relay but you then need a hefty switch to supply all the power to the reducer without burning out the switch.

If you are not confident to do all this then I suggest that you find someone who is familiar with auto electrics.

By-the-way. Your accessories connect to the reducer, usually via a fused distribution box for the positive connections and a bus bar for the negative connections. Do not use the chassis as a ground for the negatives.

Cheers and good luck.