How To Repair Golf Cart Motor Terminal

Tony Lawrence was born in 1948 and spent most of his career every bit a self-employed computer troubleshooter for Unix systems.

Nosotros are able to drive golf game carts on the individual roads where we live. It's a great convenience for running down to the postal middle or the clubhouse.

That convenience came to a sudden halt one twenty-four hour period. I pulled into my driveway after a trip to get our mail service and noticed that my battery meter was fluctuating on and off as I striking small bumps.

Well, that'south easy. Something is loose, right? Probably simply the clips to the meter. I pulled open the seat to take a look.

I felt around with my finger and found that i last was very hot. I could too feel that the nut was loose, so I went to become a wrench and came back to tighten it. I have to check these things every now and then; they don't commonly loosen up, just I wasn't concerned. That is, until I found that I couldn't tighten it down with the wrench. It just spun, because the thread information technology was attached to was spinning loose in the lead of the bombardment lug.

How to Repair Broken Terminal Mail service


Follow these steps carefully.
• Remove battery (utilise strap if you have one).
• Disconnect bombardment cable.
• Drill pilot pigsty in bombardment post no deeper than 3/iv inch.
• Employ advisable size screw and washer to secure cable tight.

A normal battery post and cable. — A normal battery mail service and cable.

You tin can run across what a normal bombardment terminal looks like in the picture abovet. There is a threaded lug that sits in a lead tab. That is what had come up loose.

In the table higher up you lot'll notice a summary of the steps I took to repair the loose lug. For more detail and photos, hither is where I went to find instructions. It was obvious that these were the correct steps to take, but I was in a hurry and took some shortcuts. I'm going to go back and "do it right" before long, simply I was able to get the cart going.

The problem was that I couldn't find my tap set. That's not something I use very often. I might have lent it to someone and forgotten most it, or maybe it merely disappeared when we moved. For all I know it got sold at our yard sale along with other tools I thought I would never need once again. Who remembers? Not me.

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I called a poker buddy who lives up the street and asked if he had a set up. He'd misplaced his as well (I nominate tap and die set as the about normally lost tools in our community), and suggested just setting a screw into the lead.

Lead is soft. Why non? Drill a little pilot hole no more than than 3/4 inch deep (deeper and you'll be into the acid) and screw in a screw. Not corking for maintenance, but it sounded like a plan. My poker pal drove down to help.

I have a lifting strap I bought from Buggies Unlimited. I think it would take been almost impossible to remove the bombardment from the carts without information technology. I highly recommend ownership one of these.

Of form nosotros couldn't easily disconnect the cable. There wasn't any style to catch the bolt to proceed it from turning, so I disconnected the cable from the other battery instead and then pulled the bombardment to get it out where we could work on it.

We fussed with information technology for half an 60 minutes, trying various futile schemes. I even tried sawing it with a hacksaw. No luck. Nosotros finally gave upwardly and I applied the time honored traditional secret male removal technique: brute force. I tore the damn thing out of the lead with my very angry bare hands.

More Broken Stuff

We were now ready to make a hole for the screw.

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Fixed!

Nosotros found an appropriate screw and a brass washer of the right size and screwed that cable downward tight.

Yeah, I know it will probably come loose merely that might be some fourth dimension from now. These batteries don't final forever, anyway. They say 2-7 years, with the longer life coming if y'all avoid discharging them fully between charges and maintain them religiously. I exercise that, so I might be proficient for some other five years with some luck.

If it does come up lose, I'll either put in a slightly bigger screw or try to find somebody here who still has a tap fix. We can't have all lost everything we ever had, right?

Epilogue

A few days afterward I drove down to our garden to pick some squash. Imagine my delight when I got dorsum in the cart and institute the bombardment meter apartment at nada. Of class I cursed myself for taking the like shooting fish in a barrel fix and called my wife to come become me.

While waiting for her and kicking the ground petulantly, I opened up the seat to see how bad information technology was. To my surprise, the spiral repair was belongings house. That wasn't the problem. Wiggling cables while watching the meter led me to the true source: the other battery last!

In our haste to put everything back and my joy at fixing the problem so easily, I had merely manus-tightened the opposite, positive terminal, and had put away my wrench without e'er snugging it down. That had worked loose from the comforting jolts of a golf game cart intermission.

I didn't take a wrench with me, only I had my fingers, so I applied the Clandestine Male Brute Force Bare Finger Tightening Technique. This actually worked well enough to get me home—with my wife following, simply in case. One time home, I tightened it down, still cursing softly under my jiff.

For some reason my poker buddy thought that was rather funny when I saw him again the following calendar week. Gauge which game I programme to deal every time it is my turn?

It'southward been two weeks at present and I have had no more problems. If I do, and can't find anyone with a tap set, I'll apply some other Undercover Male Technique that involves going to the shop and buying an overpriced tool that I may never need again other than to lend to someone and and so promptly forget all well-nigh it—until I do need it again, of course. Just by so I won't remember who I lent it to.

Update

I was driving dorsum from picking some late tomatoes at our garden when a loud Pop from under the seat startled me. A few feet after, the cart drifted to a halt.

The battery had diddled, as seen in the picture to the right. No, non the post I repaired, the other post. I thought I must take been careless well-nigh pushing down on the cap later checking the h2o; bubbles hydrogen gas and a trivial spark paid me for my sloppiness.

Nope, that wasn't it. See bad cable causes expensive battery replacement for the real story.

That was a $148.00 lesson in battery maintenance.

I'll as well have to get a new cablevision; the insulation burned away. I patched it with tape for now, simply will need to pick up a new i.

This commodity is accurate and true to the all-time of the author'south knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.