Every electric golf cart must use speed switches to accelerate smoothly from a dead stop up to full speed.  Modern golf cars employ a potentiometer, or pot box. It works in the fashion of a light switch that dims or brightens the lights in your home or business.

Low amp potentiometer boxes were introduced into the golf car industry in the late 80s and early 90s along with electronic motor controllers.

Early Speed Switches

The most common of these early speed switches employ a series of stationary copper contacts fixed to a heat resistant base board. They had a movable wiper contact that sweeps over the stationary contacts.  Each stationary contact is connected with a 6-gauge battery cable to a specific portion of the resistor coil array, often referred to as a ‘spring’ because that is what they look like.

Resistor Coils

The result is the car goes faster. The resistor coils are no longer a part of the power circuit at full pedal down.

It is the job of the speed switches and resistor coils to parse this current so the cart does not accelerate suddenly.  Without regular maintenance these high amperage speed switches can become too hot and burn the contacts, cables and the base board.

Loose Resistors

If a resistor coil connection becomes loose it can cause the acceleration to be very jerky and sudden.  This condition will create excessive arcing and burning at the wiper/stationary contact interface.

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