2006 Club Car DS OBC Bypass for LiFePO4 Battery Upgrade

ACHiPo

Member
I’m swapping 6x8V FLA batteries for a LiFePO4 100ah battery pack on my 2006 Club Car DS. Part of the upgrade conversion will be replacing the charge port with an IEC receptacle. I found a good video on bypassing the OBC and have read the threads here.


From what I can tell I need to cut the 10g black wire at the OBC and remove the grey wire by cutting at the charge port and OBC. The 10g black wire needs to be routed to the negative battery terminal. The yellow wire between the solenoid and OBC gets cut at the OBC and spliced to run to the negative battery terminal.

Is that all I need to do? (Other than connecting the positive terminal to the positive wire harness)

The threads talk about splicing the blue and white wire at the OBC, but the video says that’s only necessary for Precedents?
 

Patrick L

Cartaholic
I can't help with your question but would like to know how you like the lithium change.
I want to switch but am being talked out of it. " Gonna be the biggest mistake I could ever make "
 

ACHiPo

Member
I can't help with your question but would like to know how you like the lithium change.
I want to switch but am being talked out of it. " Gonna be the biggest mistake I could ever make "
Patrick,
It seems like a no-brainer to me: The LiFePO4 solves the safety issues of the Li ion battery packs from EVs. The 300+ pound weight loss in itself will solve most of what I don’t like about my cart, namely that it struggles and slows going up hill. Reliability of course will have to be seen.

Evan
 

ACHiPo

Member
I’m swapping 6x8V FLA batteries for a LiFePO4 100ah battery pack on my 2006 Club Car DS. Part of the upgrade conversion will be replacing the charge port with an IEC receptacle. I found a good video on bypassing the OBC and have read the threads here.


From what I can tell I need to cut the 10g black wire at the OBC and remove the grey wire by cutting at the charge port and OBC. The 10g black wire needs to be routed to the negative battery terminal. The yellow wire between the solenoid and OBC gets cut at the OBC and spliced to run to the negative battery terminal.

Is that all I need to do? (Other than connecting the positive terminal to the positive wire harness)

The threads talk about splicing the blue and white wire at the OBC, but the video says that’s only necessary for Precedents?
One other question: does the OBC bypass technique matter if I also do a Navitas AC upgrade? I was planning on doing the Li battery upgrade first, make sure everything works, then tear into the motor and controller. Maybe I d just do everything at once?
 

ACHiPo

Member
Patrick,
I forgot to mention another benefit of Li—no maintenance and no crusty white corrosion flakes on the garage floor!

Evan
 

Diode

Cartaholic - V.I.P. Sponsor
You also need to connect the OBC lockout or else the cart will not run not sure of the colors right now just woke up
 

ACHiPo

Member
You also need to connect the OBC lockout or else the cart will not run not sure of the colors right now just woke up
Diode,
Thanks. Get some coffee :yes:

I need to verify on my cart, but according to another thread connecting the blue and white wires on the harness side of the controller connector will eliminate the OBC lockout.

I don't think I need to mess with that, however, if I install the Navitas 440A AC conversion kit at the same time. I was planning on doing the upgrades sequentially to make it easier to troubleshoot, but the more I read and think, the better doing the whole thing at once seems to be as the Navitas eliminates the OBC entirely (I think).

Evan
 

Patrick L

Cartaholic
Patrick,
I forgot to mention another benefit of Li—no maintenance and no crusty white corrosion flakes on the garage floor!

Evan
Thats why I thought I wanted to make the change. Plus they don't drain over the storage period like the L/A batteries. I can't trust those looking at the house while we're gone to charge them monthly. The shops I've talked too that I tend to trust are saying the change is a mistake. I was liking the RoyPow single 36v battery but kinda hate to make a $2200 mistake.
 

ACHiPo

Member
I ordered the Extreme Team 100ah 48V pack for $2k delivered (with charger). It's a new company, so less of a known than RoyPow, but the technology is off-the-shelf from China for all these batteries, so I don't think it's too much of a risk.

Why do your local shops poo-poo the Li?
 

Diode

Cartaholic - V.I.P. Sponsor
Replacing the batteries ie battery charger also is what eliminates the OBC the controller has no bearing on the charge as long as it is a smart charger
I can also save you a few hundred dollars on the AC set up if you want to go that direction
 

Patrick L

Cartaholic
I ordered the Extreme Team 100ah 48V pack for $2k delivered (with charger). It's a new company, so less of a known than RoyPow, but the technology is off-the-shelf from China for all these batteries, so I don't think it's too much of a risk.

Why do your local shops poo-poo the Li?
I'm pretty sure the shops are thinking about some of the older batteries that had problems and the companies wouldn't warranty them. They also didn't like the cost. They talked about instant failures and fires.

I looked at a couple other companies such as Dakota and another I don't remember the name of. The RoyPow is a single 75# battery that comes with charger, connector, indicator, mounting bracket. Pretty easy installation. They claim it'll run 60 miles and take thousands of charge cycles. If it is good it'll last me the rest of my life.
 

ACHiPo

Member
I'm pretty sure the shops are thinking about some of the older batteries that had problems and the companies wouldn't warranty them. They also didn't like the cost. They talked about instant failures and fires.

I looked at a couple other companies such as Dakota and another I don't remember the name of. The RoyPow is a single 75# battery that comes with charger, connector, indicator, mounting bracket. Pretty easy installation. They claim it'll run 60 miles and take thousands of charge cycles. If it is good it'll last me the rest of my life.
The RoyPow must be bigger than 100ah if they are claiming 60 miles (like 200ah? Which would weigh much more than 75 lbs) I'm expecting 20-25 mile range with my 100 ah which is more than enough for me as I just use it for golf and visiting neighbors and live on the golf course. I wouldn't count on more than 15 years of life, but that's still twice what a set of batteries will last for about 30% more.
 

Pat911

Cartaholic
Discharging is okay, much better than FLA. Recharging should (must) be done at above 0 degrees Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit.
 

Patrick L

Cartaholic
The RoyPow must be bigger than 100ah if they are claiming 60 miles (like 200ah? Which would weigh much more than 75 lbs) I'm expecting 20-25 mile range with my 100 ah which is more than enough for me as I just use it for golf and visiting neighbors and live on the golf course. I wouldn't count on more than 15 years of life, but that's still twice what a set of batteries will last for about 30% more.


I just ordered a battery from a shop that has been installing them for several years. He didn't have any 36v in stock. He price was $1800 [ 105 amp] installed and would take some off because I'll install it.
The 105 amp should go about 30 miles and the 150 amp 60 miles, so they claim. 30 miles is fine but if the bigger one is only a couple hundred more I'll probably get it. It is about 20# heavier and larger in size.
He said there were some issues with the early ones but none over the past couple years. He took me for a ride in one he has just converted, we were going down Main St at 48 mph [ highly modified ].
 

ACHiPo

Member
Success!

Got the battery, Navitas, and new solenoid installed, wired, and everything works after a bit of troubleshooting. Hope to have time today to get out the shop, get the accessory outlets installed, and everything buttoned up for a test drive this evening.

Before:
IMG_0723.JPG

IMG_0636.JPG


After:
IMG_0766.JPG
 

ACHiPo

Member
Here's the Navitas install. I confused myself on wiring the solenoid, but once I got the run/tow wire on the hot terminal everything was great.
IMG_0771.JPG
 

Patrick L

Cartaholic
Now the fella I ordered the battery from says they are now not available until May. [ out of stock ]

Tried calling Extreme Team in Lakeland but they have one of those *^%&# ! phone numbers where you can not get to talk to anyone.

Friggin' acid batteries are going in it.
 
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