Starter Generator Output/Capacity Enough To Power Lights?

[chachi44089]

I have a 92 club car golf cart and was wondering if the output capacity of the starter generator has enough power for running lights and such. I see many carts with lots of lights and stereos and such. I want to put headlights, tail lights/brake lights and maybe a small stereo on my golf cart but am afraid of overloading the charging system. Any advise? or amp/watts limits? Thanx.

 

[shadowman]

You'll be fine as long as you have a good battery, the voltage regulator is in working order and the starter/generator is good.

 

[TheCartDude]

For those of you that are interested-

The stock generator is rated 16A @ 3600RPM. If you plan to exceed this in total load, I would HIGHLY recommend getting a large deep cycle battery and putting it in the bagwell.

 

[chachi44089]

Thanks, that is the info I needed. I put 55 watt halogen headlights on my cart, both headlights use 55 watts each, so the headlights use 110 watts total. I found a formula for amps.. amps=watts/volts..So my headlights alone use 9.1666 amps..That is more than I thought. I may switch to 35 watt halogen headlights..That would be 70 watts total watts. Or 5.833 amps. I really needed this info because I am going street legal and still need running lights and turn signals. The amps can add up quick, and I dont want to stress the charging system. This is something to think about when adding lights and tunes and such to a cart.

 

[mayorpc]

I put 55 watts head lights on my 04 and then the rest i used LED lights and also under the cart LEDs also no problems Cause the draw is so low on the LEDs. Besides they look great.

Note- If you use LEDs for turn signals you will need a resistor on each side> i used 25watt 5.5 ohm for mine.

 

[chachi44089]

Thanks!! Great tip..I forgot about LEDs..That will balance out good.. Thank you for all the helpful hints. This forum is a GREAT source for golf cart information.

 

[chachi44089]

Using resistors to make the signal work defeats the purpose of using led lights..The two 25 watt resistors you used, add the electrical load back in the system to replace the load from standard incandescent bulbs needed to make the "old style" thermal flasher work.. The 25 watt resistor is the same "load" as a 25 watt bulb. What you want to do to benifit from the low current draw of the leds is to ditch those resistors and switch to an "electronic" flasher unit..Its an easy switch.."plug and play" so to speak. Then you will not have the combined resistor "load" of 50 watts on your charging system from the resistors, and can benifit from the low currect draw of the LED's.

 

[mayorpc]

I tried the flasher got two different ones and couldn't get either one of them to work had buddy come over and try to get them to work nothing we did worked.

 

[TheCartDude]

I sell ATV-rated HID kits that would work well for your application, if you're interested. Much lower power draw and much higher light output than halogen bulbs. Message me if you want to get a set, they're $45 shipped. I also have low-profile kits that give you a wider range of mounting/routing options than the $45 kit. The $45 kit runs at 35w, while the low-profile kit pulls 32w.