stereo

hello all, i just installed a radio in my 2003 48v club car, and am having trouble getting radio reception. when i bench test the radio with a 12v battery or battery charger it works great, great reception, with the antena i have. when hooked up to the golf cart power, with voltage converter there is little or no reception. any advice, thanks.
 

dougmcp

New Member
Check the voltage you're getting to the radio.
NO part of the radio, including the radio chassis and even the antenna can touch the frame of the cart.
 
the radio is getting 13 volts exact, radio and antenna are surrounded by plastic? Any other ideas on what could be the problem? thanks for the help.
 

StreetGlide

New Member
Hello,

Please let us know the following.....

Is your cart an IQ? Does the serial # start with AQ, A or AA? (Sticker should be located on the passenger side glove box (or below and toward the steering column from the glove box).

Let me ask this: is the AM reception static, the FM reception fade away as you push the accelerator? Does the CD player work (assuming you have one)?

Did you run dedicated pos and neg wiring (NO common chassis ground) to speakers, power converter, switches, etc? What "dougmcp" said is very important, the entire system must be isolated from the chassis of the cart, no mounting screws for into chassis, etc. either?

Hope we can help you......
 
Thank you for your intrest in my frustration. Yes the cart is an IQ, and initially I ran the radio off of headlights that I previously installed. I since ran a dedicated line to the voltage converter, and determined the following: there was an improvement in reception however very minimal. It added three station, (not crystal clear, but ok). There must me some inerference in the golf cart itself. I continue to check the radio by hooking it up to a 12v battery, and it works great. Many, many radio stations, but when powered by the cart, 1-4 stations if im lucky. it doesent seem to make a difference when I move the cart from one area to another. The stereo is mounted in an overhead console, whith two speakers. Can you tell me where the controller is located, I read where it can cause interference if wires are close to it. Thanks again for everyones help. Oh yea, it does have a cd player, and it works fine.
 

BIGDAWG

New Member
the antenna is your problem, if you have the one that looks like
a #18 black wire you have to get it out of the overhead consol.


BIGDAWG
twocents.gif
 

StreetGlide

New Member
Hello,

The IQ OBC is located behind the batteries on the drivers side of the cart. A half-wave type VERTICAL antenna, as far away from the OBC should help. It gives you the best receive signal to the radio you can get in a golf cart to help counter-act the RF from the OBC that is de-sensitizing (over-riding) the FM broadcast signal, plus it is less susceptible to horizontal polarized interference from the OBC cabling . That, and keeping twisted power leads to the converter as short as possible, away from the OBC, may help some. I had to re-wire the sub wiring since the initial install and I now have a little bit of the problem. The close, powerful FM stations have no problem, but weak ones are now somewhat susceptible.

It is easier to filter out the motor RF "static" that that causes most ot the inference in carts other than the IQ CCs. The CCs without the IQ don't have this particular problem. In the IQ problem it's like trying to filter out one of two broadcast stations operating on the same frequency with the most powerful one being the one that does not have audio.

It is very difficult to believe that Club Car knows about the problem and has not done anything to correct it. Perhaps they have, in new carts? I don't know, but they have not even admitted the problem exists that I can find. I am surprized that the OBC meets EPA regulations ref emissions. I know an avid FM listener and his receiving equipment is high tech. When a CC IQ drives by his house, he gets the interference that over-rides weak stations that he listens-to.

I really like the IQ and what it does, but don't like this issue. If I ever buy another one, I will order one with the factory mounted stereo and if I have the same problem make them fix it! (I noticed that their overhead console is all aluminum. Perhaps they have found ways of shielding and isolating equipment to block it? Who knows. They still don't admit to the problem as far as I know.

Good luck. If you find something that helps, please advise. If you have any specific questions I may be able to answer, please post or send a PM if you wish.

Look forward to your particpation on the forum!
 
Thank you again. I am learning more about my golf cart in the past few days, than I did in the past few years. I will try a new antenna. The one I have is called a hidden antenna, and is basically a wire the diameter of a pencil for about a foot, and then a thin wire comming out of that for about another foot. I liked the idea of keeping it consealed in the overhead mount. One thing I want to clarify is that I am having this problem when the golf cart is parked, not even moving. This is what really puzzles me. I can understand problems when the motor is running, but sitting still, not running? Anyway, thank you all for the imput. Two final questions: do you think a signal booster would make any difference, and is there any type of antenna that can work well and still be hidden, and not mounted to the cart? Thanks.
 

StreetGlide

New Member
Hello,

First, you should not be having this problem if the cart is not moving unless something is either causing the OBC to transmit the interference or there is a nother problem?? I would check and make sure that the accelerator switch is not allowing any current through when not depressed. I would suggest re-checking every wire connected to the converter, stereo, lights and any other accessories is not in any way connected to the chassis (through parts mountings, wires, screws, etc.).

If you don't feel comfortable doing the following test, don't. If you do, then check this:
With the stereo turned on, CAREFULLY check with a voltmeter from the positive post of battery#1 (should be where the main red cable that runs the cart is connected) and the cart's chassis.

There should be 0 voltage if everything is isolated. Remove the meter leads and turn-OFF the stereo.

IF you measured a voltage above,
disconnect one of the battery jumper cables between two of the batteries (breaking the battery string series connection).

Remove the + red INPUT wire that connects the converter to the battery string where it connects to the battery),

reconnect the battery jumper cable and check for voltage from the positive post of battery #1 and the chassis (as above).

If you no longer measure a voltage there, that means the converter/stereo is not properly isolated from from the chassis. If the voltage IS still there, then something else in the cart wiring is not properly isolated from the chassis.

Disconnect the battery jumper cable again. Reconnect the converter + INPUT lead to the battery (original location). Then reconnect the battery jumper cable.

Ref you question about the booster, probably not since the interfering RF from the OBC is more than likely being received by the antenna just like the FM broadcast station. You could try it, it might help some in the signal is only coming in over the stereo wiring, but I would not bother.

Ref the antenna, NOT REALLY. You could try re-running the wire antenna in another direction. That may help. For a test only, can you run the antenna outside the console and roof and somehow hold it vertically and see if that has an effect on the issue?

Let us know what you find...

Good luck!
 
well, its been a few days, and i have now given up. I decided to just listen to cd,s. I tried everything. different antenna, signal booster, noise suppressor, moving the stereo wires every different way, still no improvement. the only thing i am considering to do is mount a small 12v battery on the cart, and use it when i want to listen to the radio. i just wish i knew i was doing this before i laid out 150$ on the voltage converter, oh well. thank you all again for your imput.
sad.gif
 

StreetGlide

New Member
Sorry you still have the problems. I had hoped that you would find a easy fix!

I would suggest to try the battery (if you have one). I remember you said you tried one, but didn't think that it was mounted in the cart at the time. I'm hoping that your particular problem is not the "de-sensitizing" problem but one that can be solved with a separate battery.

Please keep us advised. Very much interested in "how it goes".
 
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