golf cart
guru
• I thought we’d talk about a somewhat
common, and for the most part simple problem
to remedy.
Often when a golf cart won’t run the solenoid
isn’t closing.
Wait, let me back up... I’ll start this way. There
are two electrical circuits in the typical golf cart.
Everything connected with small wires is the
logic or control circuit. Everything connected
with large or heaver wires is the power circuit.
There are several components that
interconnect these two circuits. One of them
is the solenoid or contactor. This is what I’ll be
talking about. This is the thing that makes a
clicking sound when you step on the accelerator
pedal. It is usually located near the controller or
accelerator board under the seat in the battery
compartment.
Remember, the batteries in a golf cart have a lot
of energy in them and can cause serious injury.
Please don’t perform these or any other service
or tests if you are unsure how to connect
testing equipment or tools. Be careful.
For these tests you’ll need a good volt tester.
Remember you’ll be looking for about 36 volts
on an older cart and about 48 volts on a later
model cart.
There are roughly three reasons that solenoids
won’t close, or even click.
1. The contactor has some sort of defect and
needs to be replace
2. It’s not receiving positive switching voltage
3. It’s not receiving negative switching voltage
Before you do nay of theses tests lift the drive
wheels off the ground as the car may move
unexpectedly.
The positive input is via the 16 gauge wire
attached to one of the small posts of the
solenoid. The color could be red, blue, orange
or one of several other colors.
the
To test this input
1 .Attach a volt meter red probe to this post
and black probe to the battery last negative.
2. Turn the key on, select forward, and depress
the accelerator.
The solenoid should click and you should see
full pack voltage. If you do, this side of the
circuit is okay. If not, the problem is in one of
the switches, key, F&R micro, accelerator micro,
etc., or the interconnecting wiring.
The negative input is via the 16 gauge wire
attached to the other small post of the solenoid.
This wire could be black, blue with a white stripe
of one of several other colors. Many times this
wire is attached directly to the B- buss bar on
the controller.
To test this input.
1. Attach a volt meter black probe to this post
and red probe to the battery last positive
2. Turn the key on, select forward, and depress
the accelerator.
The solenoid should click and you should
see full pack voltage. If you do, this side of
the circuit is okay. If not, the problem is in
interconnecting wiring or the B- source. •
Have a question? Send it to Tim at: [email protected]
DECEMBER 2018
37