Buy 48 or 36?

COPB

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
I am wondering which is the way a person should go? What makes more sense?
All things being equal, the basic cost of the cart and you would have to buy new batteries:

Buy a 36 volt cart and change it to 48? Let's assume it is not a resistor cart, so I would suppose you would have to buy a bigger controller. Right?

OR:
Buy a 48 volt cart, then do what? Would you have to buy a different motor to get the torque and speed out of it? Would you also have to buy a bigger controller?

I guess I am asking which cart would be the cheapest to hop up.
If my questions make no sense, that's all right. Because, like Sgt. Schultz; "I know nothing."
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
If the plan is to have a 48 volt cart it would be cheaper and easier to start with a 48 volt cart. This way you already have the 48 volt charger, batteries and controller. Then you could change the 48 volt motor to a 36 volt motor and have a decent running cart for the cost of the motor.

If you already have a 36 volt cart you could go with a EMP motor keep the stock controller and run just as fast as the above stock 48 volt cart with a 36 volt motor.

Now if you upgrade the controller and motor on the 48 volt cart you start pulling away from the 36 volt cart with the same upgrades

So I guess it all depends on what your plans for the cart are. If you plan on a 48 volt cart then yes it would be cheaper to start with a 48 volt controller cart. Even if you go all out on the upgrades you would already have the 48 volt charger and batteries.
 

COPB

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
I guess I should have mentioned that I all ready possess a 48 volt charger. It is a lister made for Club Car and I understand I have to put in a new board to make it charge without the OBC.

I understand a 36 speed and power are increased by 30% by putting in 48. I assume this is more speed than you get with a stock 48. But, would the stock 36 volt controller handle 48? And what is a ball park number for what a controller would cost?

Or, if I bought a 48. How could a person get, at least, 25 MPH out of it? Would I need a new motor? And, if you get a bigger motor, I suppose you also have to get a controller that will handle more amps?

I understand that there are some Club Cars that can be reprogrammed for more speed. Can you get an honest 25 out of these?
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
A stock 36 volt cart and stock 48 volt cart will both run about the same speed...

The stock 36 volt controller can't handle 48 volts...

$300 and up for a 48 volt controller...

To get 25 MPH out of a 48 volt cart you would need a aftermarket motor as far as I know...

The Club Car IQ cart can have the speed set by a Club Car dealer by programming the controller for $75-$100.00. I think the maximum speed is 19.6 mph...
 

COPB

Cartaholic - R.I.P.
Going from 36 to 48 with new controller, do you need anything else changed? ? Is the "pot" something that needs to be changed too?

If you put a bigger motor into a 48 cart, would you have to upgrade the controller? To handle more amps?
 

JRay

Cartaholic
As far as i know you can't run a controller with out a potentiometer or a micor. Of course the cart might have one already. You would need a 48 volt solenoid sooner or later also. The 300 curtis controller i have is marked 36- 48. As soon as i can get someone to tell me how to rewire my old resistor cart it will be a controller cart. I already have it to 48 volts and 48 volt solenoid and a new 48 volt lester charger. It runs great on the old 36 volt motor. Plenty of speed and torque. Still running the v glide and resistor coils.
 

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
COPB, A lot of aftermarket motors will work with the stock controller. You won't have as much torque as you would with more amps.

JRay, Somewhere in this mess of a office I have some diagrams for converting a CC from resistor to a controller. I saw your post and I'll look for the info I have.
 

JRay

Cartaholic
Thanks HRC i would appreciate that. I know there are some good electrical guys over on the pq forum, that was going to be my next stop.
 

Andy4639

Member
36 or 48...That is the question?

I would go with 72 volts if it where me.

If you just want 48 volts buy the cheapest 48 volt cart you can find and put a 4600 RPM motor in it.

To take a coil cart and make it a controler cart is simple if you have the ablity and time to do it.

You need the controller and Pot box to match each other.
Club car uses 5k -0 pot boxes and controller's
Ezgo uses 0-5k pot box and controller's.
Pull all the coils and wiring out.
Mount the pot on the gas pedal linkage. Run the two wires off the pot to the controller number 2 & 3 terminal's(these are the small terminals)
Run 48 volt hot wire to key switch then to micro on pot box then to hot side of selonoid and over to terminal #1 on controller. (Small terminal)
The ground side of the selonoid is back to 48 volts of the battery.
 

JRay

Cartaholic
Thanks for the info Andy, i will get into this cart and more then likely will have more questions. I have a curtis pb 2 pot, i was told it would go either way depending on how you wire it 0- 5 or 5-0. I have 2 curtis contollers one has 4 big lugs the other 3. Both have 3 small connections marked 1 2 3. Are these compatabale, i have tried to spell that dam word 4 frickin times... Will these work together? the pot and either controller?
 

Andy4639

Member
The controller having 4 big terminal and the other only three is just that. The 2 cables you match to the lug on the controller just make one cable long enough to go to the motor and Forward/Reverse switch instead of it to the controller.
thumbup.gif
 

JRay

Cartaholic
Thanks, Andy, going to remove the body to make it easier to work on. Should be a neater job with the rear body out of the way. Have to mount the controller on a fabed bracket anyway. Updates to follow.
 
Hey guys,
Newbie here....
I'm running 03 ez go pds converted to 48 volts and running 29 mph on gps...
but ALWAYS lookin for more... got substantial runtime and speed increase out of the conv.. but any ideas or help on a few other things ... my local guys around here in New Orleans dont deal with much stuff like this...

thanks in advance
 

2Slow

New Member
Speaking of Plum Quick. I just looked at a good story about those guys. It had shop photos and their motor pics.
 
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