I am building a lightwieght golf cart and need some pointers. I have the motors picked out,the gear ratio is perfect,it has plenty of power but now I have to wire it up.
Its 24 volt and has (two) two wire motors. I want to use this curtis controller I have but need a wire diagram that is easy and practical. its a curtis controller simular to the 1204x on the website. I need to know if it will work on the two wire motors.
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Oh, yeah, the curtis documentation is probably for four-wire motors (series wound).
The controller probably has M+ B+ and M/B- connectors (three connectors) plus throttle and on/off.
If so it should be a simple matter to make those connections.. M+ to M+, M- to M/B-, B+ to B+, B- to M/B-
Where it will differ is in handling forward and reverse. On a series wound motor forward/reverse is done with a reversing contactor (usually) and means swapping around the four connections on the motor. On a two-wire motor forward/reverse is simply reverse the motor leads and the motor will spin backward.
I got your PM and believe this answers the question therein.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
It has 4 main wire connections,two throttle conections and a five wire connection to the right side. I cannot get photos to upload and still have yet to figure this forum format.
Anyway,I really appreciate the help,I am new to elecrtic vehicles and you might have to talk to me as if I was eight for a bit.
Their documentation is here but you probably already found it?
http://www.curtisinstruments.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cProducts.dspProductCategory&catID=11
Hurm, I don't see one with a five-wire connection. Exactly which do you have?
I didn't mention the fourth main connector because I've been ignoring it. As shown in the manuals the connectors are M+, B+, B- and A2. However it can be safely ignored. Simply leave it unconnected.
B+ connects to B+
B- connects to B- and one of the motor connections
M+ connects to the other motor connection
The throttle needs to be a 0-5k ohm style. Curtis talks about a potbox but there are twist grip throttles which work just fine and are 0-5k ohm. Simply connect the 0-5k across the throttle connection.
The question would be the 5-wire connection. One of them is got to be a keyswitch input. The Curtis manual has an excellent diagram showing wiring from B+ through one or more switches that goes to this keyswitch input. The series of switches are meant to turn the system on or off and one purpose is to shut down the controller e.g. while braking or in an emergency.
An important gizmo to have is an emergency cutoff. Most controllers have a failure mode where the circuit is full-on 100% and your vehicle will take off at an astonishing speed and it could be the most exciting final moments of your life if you don't have a way to shut off power. On my motorcycle I have a big red switch that's capable of 1000 Amps of current, it's right in the middle and easy to reach and also serves as the main on-off switch for the bike. There are several ways to do the emergency cutoff, mine is just one of them.
The Curtis manual also discusses a solenoid style contactor. The purpose is a main on-off for the system. It's typical to wire the keyswitch so it operates the solenoid as well as the key input to the controller. There's several ways to do this which the Curtis manual goes over. In my motorcycle there isn't a solenoid style contactor, the emergency big red switch thingymajob serves the purpose for which there would be a solenoid style contactor.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
Perfect..so I can disregard all the different contacts and switcghes they show in the diagram? It gets pratty scary. The forward/reverse wires seem simple enough but what is the "emergency reverse"? I sure wish I could send pictures to this site. It tells me they are too big.