Thanks. I have a 36V old 1985 Club Car (2.5HP 1850W series motor) and have been incrementally upgrading, on a budget. I only use it around the property to haul mulch, visit neighbors, etc, don't need faster or >10 mile range. I put a Curtis controller and PB6 throttle. Want to build my own LIFEPO4 battery pack, but trying to figure out the max amps I need. I found some nice cells at 100AH, max continuous discharge 1C (100A) which I believe will be just fine for me. Still unsure of the max amp draw. My controller handles 500A. The JDS smart 300A BMS are relatively cheap. I suspect my continuous draw is 50A, max is probably 150-180?. Hoping a 100AH pack could handle that? I don't have a clamp meter for DC. Any ideas on max amps? You are seeing what?
Thanks very much. I believe I'll see less than 50A in level ground. My max speed is about 12mph. Based on your 225 max with a much bigger motor, and other posts I've seen, I suspect max of 150A-180A or so for me. I saw a post with a clamp meter, Kauweets HT206D that showed max DC amps. They are $40 and a useful addition to my tool kit, so I ordered one from Amazon. Previously I couldn't tell from the description & manual if it would hold max amp value. Meter should arrive tonight, so I'll put it on the cart and run it uphill fully loaded and see what the max is. I was going to set up a 30A bms and have it trigger a solenoid for the power output of the battery bank. That is, charge through the bms and have bms shut off the solenoid at 2.5V for protection. But the 300A JDS smart bms is cheap enough to just spring for that and the app eliminates the need for a separate meter. I used to charge every other day just putzing around yard chores. Eliminating the resister coils has really helped. The LIFEPO4 batteries would complete the transformation.....
I have a stock 36v motor EZGO and with my Li-ion, I see about 145amps on a steep hill with two people in it....if that is helpful.
That is hugely helpful!!! Its a similar motor and similar situation. The EXGO and Club Cars both had similar power, series motors back in the day. Thanks!!!! I'm thinking if I am at about 150A, that is well within 100Ah LIFEPO4 batteries. At 200A, not so sure..... What AH Li-ion do you have?
The cells are used prism cells that Battery Clearing House was selling. They were rated at 64ah and tested about 51-52ah with 150a max draw rating. I have two 10s packs with a JBD BMS on each pack. I think the stock controller is 175A max rated, based on some information that I found.
Hard to talk about range when you are going up a hill pulling 500%-700% what you do on level ground
Range=x trips up and down the hill with y added weight.True. Previously, with my used lead-acid batteries and resister toaster coils, I was charging every other day and had maybe range of <1 mile. Getting a true controller has already helped to weekly charging. Putting in LIFEPO4 batteries of 50 or 100 AH should make it much more usable. Just need to make sure I don't have max amp draw greater than the batteries can supply.Hard to talk about range when you are going up a hill pulling 500%-700% what you do on level ground
It is restricted @35. That is about as fast as you would want to go in a cart made to go half that speed.
I know that's right! I've got a '92 Club Car gas cart that I've got to 28mph and it's way too fast, I can't even let my kids drive it anymore lol.
One of the things I like about the Navitas controller is that it has a three nob panel. It lets you adjust the acceleration, regeneration, and speed. You have a key that can lock your settings. You can adjust it to protect kids or scare your buddies with wheelies and high speed rides.
