Is it possible to have a dead short in the controller?

[twilliams81]

I just recently sold a cart (CC PRECEDENT - PH1347-422806) to a customer that was running absolutely fine. He decided to install a radio & speaker/dash insert himself ....well he was back in here a few days later with his cart and claims it started smoking at the bottom of the rear access panel where the main harness runs through to the controller and quit. He installed a 24V = 12V reducer with switch and everything looks good on that end and the radio, lights (I installed) and everything else working just fine when it was brought in. All the wires in the main harness look good, I don't see any glaring burn spots anywhere other than the little glass fuse inside the yellow holder. Now the thing is you can't completely series the batteries in..whenever you touch the main positive it arcs very heavily (note that when he brought it in he had the main positive off the post)...When I unplug the main wire harness from the controller (and everything else hooked up to the controller) you can successfully touch the main positive without any arc. I'm assuming that something was done during this radio installation and it's possibly fried the controller but I've never seen such a heavy dead short inside a controller before. Has anyone else? Thanks for any information! This site rocks!

[Sergio]

Which batteries did he use for the 24v reducer hookup?

[twilliams81]

I believe he used 3 and 6 with his negative coming off the main negative (6 being the main negative)....I've got everything un-wired now trying to eliminate things but I'm almost sure that's what was used.

[twilliams81]

Im just trying to figure out if indeed I need to stop at the controller and replace it...I'd like to try and connect my CDM and see if there are any faults being thrown out but I can't connect power with the main harness plugged in.

[Sergio]

Do you have all of the wires from the reducer disconnected from the bucket harness?

You may want to check the front dash to see if any connections were made to the existing harness wires.

[Mooncarter]

Shot in the dark, but there was a guy here a few days ago with a controller somebody had run a screw into. Yes, ran a screw about an inch into the controller. Look and see if something like that could have happened.

[twilliams81]

Hey guys a little update...I checked everything out and there doesn't seem to be any connections to the bucket harness at all and no screws drilled through to the controller. The only odd connection I can find is a ground wire coming from the output side on the converter back to the switch he installed to cut power to the converter. Not sure if that would cause anything like this; also seeing as how the radio and converter were working when he brought it in. This is leading me to believe that he's not being 100% truthful in what went on during installation. The only thing that I know now for sure is that there is a major dead short in the controller itself and I'm not able to put power to it without causing some serious arching. Thanks for input guys..I have a feeling this isn't going to go over very well

[outdoorsed]

Yikes!!!
Well Good luck twilliam!

[Morjus]

I'm the guy who found the crew in the back of the Controller. My cart runs fine but the chassis is live 49V if the Controller is touching the chassis, and drops to 10.5V when it is off the chassis. Is it possible to open a Controller to see if the screw hit anything?
For now I'm crossing my fingers, putting the Controller on insulated mounts, and going in search of the other smaller voltage. Golf is too much sitting and waiting. I want music!

[scrannel]

Since you can do a core replacement on a controller (rebuild) they are opened up all the time. But you'd have to -- at least on mine -- cut through the epoxy stuff that seals it. Then, of course, reseal. Or buy a rebuild.