1972 Golfster 36v Trophy 300 purchase and rebuild

[Lochlin]

Sorry man. I was in Canada for the better part of the last week and was off the grid a lot more than I expected to be. Attached is the full manual for most Cushman carts of that era (both gas and electric). In scanning things, this should match your cart pretty well. The electronics should be close to exact. Note on your diagram the + and - of the batteries aren't noted and the motor studs aren't noted (S1, S2, A1, A2). The diagram in the manual has these and they do match your cart.

I have a working GC300 so we can always refer to that one if need be as well. Unfortunately, it's at a camp so I can only see it on weekends.

Indeed, that the phantom wire that you have on your solenoid is actually for the brake buzzer, something that would sound if you tried to drive with the parking brake on. That's just silly so I would just keep it deleted.

That wire from the speed controller (potentiometer) should go to the key switch then directly to the battery pack -. As you are bypassing the key switch for now, just connect it directly to battery back -.

[neckmcd]

Originally Posted by Lochlin

Sorry man. I was in Canada for the better part of the last week and was off the grid a lot more than I expected to be. Attached is the full manual for most Cushman carts of that era (both gas and electric). In scanning things, this should match your cart pretty well. The electronics should be close to exact. Note on your diagram the + and - of the batteries aren't noted and the motor studs aren't noted (S1, S2, A1, A2). The diagram in the manual has these and they do match your cart.



I have a working GC300 so we can always refer to that one if need be as well. Unfortunately, it's at a camp so I can only see it on weekends.



Indeed, that the phantom wire that you have on your solenoid is actually for the brake buzzer, something that would sound if you tried to drive with the parking brake on. That's just silly so I would just keep it deleted.



That wire from the speed controller (potentiometer) should go to the key switch then directly to the battery pack -. As you are bypassing the key switch for now, just connect it directly to battery back -.

Thank you. So this is the wiring diagram I have been using. Everything looks to be wired up correctly. I am confused as which way the + and - get hooked up as the diagram has no indication. I assume the + goes straight through the solenoid. When I hook up the power, ground and wire from the potentiometer the resistor coils heat up as if the power is going straight through the solenoid. Don’t know what the issue is if it’s not the solenoid. I will probably start with replacing that. Should I stick with a 12v like what’s in it or get a 36v solenoid?

[Lochlin]

Get a 36v solenoid for sure, it will look the same though. It is highly likely that your solenoid is stuck closed. I have seen that happen quite a few times now. When you power things up, because the solenoid is closed, the current is flowing even though the accelerator isn't depressed. As the cart isn't moving, all of that energy has to go somewhere and it is being dissipated via the resistors as heat. Aat is happening, you probably do have things wired correctly already.

Don't kill yourself with getting that + and - to your back right. It will work either way you F and R will just be backward. Hook it up however and if you go forward when your lever is in forward then you have it right. If you go backward when your lever is in forward then you simply have to switch your pack cables.

[neckmcd]

Thank you very much! I just ordered a new solenoid by ez-go and also a 36-12v power reducer that will eventually run my lights, radio, cell phone charger and whatever else I wanna run off it.

[neckmcd]

Ok so I hooked up the new solenoid and can’t get the switch in the potentiometer fire and give power to the solenoid. I checked the switch and have continuity through it. I did notice the switch doesn’t click, I know older switches click louder than new when you operate them. I have the long lead connected to the - end of the battery pack running directly to the switch in the potentiometer, the other end of the switch goes to the solenoid. When I apply the gas I can’t get the switch to the solenoid. Any ideas here? I’ll go take pics shortly.

[Lochlin]

I am not aware of there ever being any type of switches in those pots and I don't see any in the diagram. Does that switch open and close with the rotation of the pot armature?

The one side of the switch is going to the pack -. Which solenoid terminal is the other side of the switch going to?

[neckmcd]

Originally Posted by Lochlin

I am not aware of there ever being any type of switches in those pots and I don't see any in the diagram. Does that switch open and close with the rotation of the pot armature?

The one side of the switch is going to the pack -. Which solenoid terminal is the other side of the switch going to?

Yes it opens when you hit the pedal. Power into the switch comes from the pack and the short wire out goes to the solenoid. My interpretation of this is that once you hit the pedal it opens the switch allowing power to the solenoid, which then will power the whole system.

[neckmcd]

So I have this wire going into the potentiometer switch on the negative side of the pack.It feeds into the left side of this switch in the potentiometer. The wire on the right is the blue wire seen which I have hooked to the solenoid as the exciter. The switch I know works as I tested continuity on it, but I can’t seem to get power to flow through to the solenoid l.

[Lochlin]

Ah, I see what the microswitch is doing now. To be honest, you can delete the microswitch / solenoid altogether and just power directly through the pot if you wanted to. Let's see if we can get the original configuration going first though.

It looks like your solenoid circuit isn't complete. You need another wire going from other small terminal on your solenoid....the one that doesn't have a the blue wire on it. That solenoid will only close up when there is current running across the small terminals. Yours isn't doing that. A new wire from that other terminal to pack + should do it. This way, when the pot closes the microswitch the current will flow from pack - through the microswitch to and through the solenoid (causing it to close) then to pack +.

Really, without seeing the cart I would bet that you can jump the solenoid altogether by fastening two large wires on it together. This would take the microswitch and solenoid both out of play. Note that the microswitch / solenoid really only function to enable an on-off key as the large cables are too bug to fasten to a key switch. Hence why the solenoid is needed.

[neckmcd]

Originally Posted by Lochlin

Ah, I see what the microswitch is doing now. To be honest, you can delete the microswitch / solenoid altogether and just power directly through the pot if you wanted to. Let's see if we can get the original configuration going first though.

It looks like your solenoid circuit isn't complete. You need another wire going from other small terminal on your solenoid....the one that doesn't have a the blue wire on it. That solenoid will only close up when there is current running across the small terminals. Yours isn't doing that. A new wire from that other terminal to pack + should do it. This way, when the pot closes the microswitch the current will flow from pack - through the microswitch to and through the solenoid (causing it to close) then to pack +.

Really, without seeing the cart I would bet that you can jump the solenoid altogether by fastening two large wires on it together. This would take the microswitch and solenoid both out of play. Note that the microswitch / solenoid really only function to enable an on-off key as the large cables are too bug to fasten to a key switch. Hence why the solenoid is needed.

Well to be honest I wanted to feel the cart drive so I did jump the solenoid and drove it down the street a bit. When I got back the coils were quite warm like before when the solenoid was out. They weren’t glowing like they had before, but I could tell there was heat through them. I verified and I can’t see anywhere I’d be getting a short or something to cause the heat.