Now I need to turn my attention to another project that I need to get out of the way. You may have noticed that old golf cart in some of the other photos. It is a early 90's model EZ GO brand. I bought it so that I could learn how battery powered vehicles work. I built a mini Baja racer a couple of years ago that I am thinking of converting into an electric utility vehicle. The idea is to use components in this old golf cart in the rebuild of the Baja racer. This old golf cart is in very sad shape but at least I can see how the various components are arranged. Just in case you are interested a golf cart consists of 6 main components. They are:1. On and off switch.
2. Solenoid switch
3. Throttle also referred to as potentiometer or pot box.
4. Motor controller
5. Motor
6. Batteries.
I am considering making the girls go cart a battery powered cart so I need to know how this all works. I can work on small gasoline powered engines but I know very little about electric motors. This golf cart is really pretty much a worn out piece of junk but I will harvest the parts that I think can be used in the Baja/ Utility vehicle project.
First we need to be aware of a couple of hard working tools that can save a lot of time and effort if you are trying to disassemble a rusty old piece of equipment. The first tool is called a Sawzall and as the name suggests it saws through just about anything. It is shaped so that you can get the greatest leverage possible even in awkward positions. It works well in wood or metal but you will need a Bi metal blade to cut metal. Even with a dull blade it cut through the main frame of the golf cart in less than a minute.
Another tool that is great for coaxing loose those rusty old nuts and bolts is an electric impact hammer wrench. It looks and works like a regular drill except that it uses a hammering force when it encounters any resistance. This is what they use to remove the lug nuts from your wheels when you go to the tire store to have your tires replaced. That hammering noise followed by a whoozing noise is an impact wrench hammering the nuts loose and then quickly unthreading them the rest of the way off of the lug. They are not cheap and this one set me back about $180.00. But you can rent these at your local tool rental store. You will be glad you did. 
The following photos show what it looks like under the bench seat of a golf cart. It looks really complicated but that is mostly because the few major components have to be wired together in a number of different places. Here is a shot of the motor which sets on top of the differential drive.
This is the forward and reverse switch. I think I forgot to mention it as one of the major components. I believe the newer carts have the reversing switch built into the controller itself.
This next photo shows the solenoid, pot box and motor controller.
In the next photo you will see 6 batteries. These are the size and weight of a regular car battery but they are very different in that they are deep cycle batteries. Deep cycle batteries are designed to be drained of their power and then recharged. A regular car battery must maintain a constant charge level in order to opperate correctly and would not last long in a deep cycle depletion service. This cart runs on a 36 Volt system. Can you guess how many volts each battery has? 6 volts is correct. The function of batteries is another subject we could spend a couple of hours discussing but there is plenty of information out there if you are interested.
Here is a shot of the rear end that I may use for the Utility project. The thing I like about it is that the motor is already matched to the drive and it has brakes built in.
The golf cart has one tire that has any life left in it.
So that is about it for the old girl. There is no telling how many bad golfers she hauled around in her days. I am going to keep the front spindles and hubs because they are very heavy duty and they just might work on a future project.
The following photos show what it looks like under the bench seat of a golf cart. It looks really complicated but that is mostly because the few major components have to be wired together in a number of different places. Here is a shot of the motor which sets on top of the differential drive.
This is the forward and reverse switch. I think I forgot to mention it as one of the major components. I believe the newer carts have the reversing switch built into the controller itself.
This next photo shows the solenoid, pot box and motor controller.
In the next photo you will see 6 batteries. These are the size and weight of a regular car battery but they are very different in that they are deep cycle batteries. Deep cycle batteries are designed to be drained of their power and then recharged. A regular car battery must maintain a constant charge level in order to opperate correctly and would not last long in a deep cycle depletion service. This cart runs on a 36 Volt system. Can you guess how many volts each battery has? 6 volts is correct. The function of batteries is another subject we could spend a couple of hours discussing but there is plenty of information out there if you are interested.
Here is a shot of the rear end that I may use for the Utility project. The thing I like about it is that the motor is already matched to the drive and it has brakes built in.
The golf cart has one tire that has any life left in it.
So that is about it for the old girl. There is no telling how many bad golfers she hauled around in her days. I am going to keep the front spindles and hubs because they are very heavy duty and they just might work on a future project.
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