One of the most important components of your golf cart is the solenoid. It is one of the main components of your golf cart that allows it to move. Whether you have a Yamaha, E-Z-GO, or Club Car golf cart, you need a properly operating solenoid to get anywhere.
What is a solenoid?
Good question! A solenoid, for our purposes, is a type of relay. A relay is a type of switch that uses a low power circuit to operate a high-power circuit. A solenoid uses a magnetic coil (the actual solenoid) on a low power circuit to push a rod that closes a high-power circuit. On your golf cart, this high-powered circuit is either your ignition on a gas golf cart, or your electrical motor power circuit for an electric golf cart.
Basically, it’s your golf cart’s go switch, and it’s absolutely essential to your golf cart’s ability to do its job. Golf cart solenoids are also typically one of the first components to fail in your golf cart, because they work very hard, turning on and off every time you stop and go in your golf cart. If you have any issue with no start or no go then your solenoid should be pretty high on your list of things to check.
What does my solenoid do exactly?
Now that you know what it is and what it’s used for, let’s talk about the specifics of your golf cart solenoid. So, when you press your accelerator down in your electric golf cart, your golf cart goes right? This happens because you’re inputting a signal with the accelerator that turns on your solenoid and speed controller.
So, when you push the pedal down, and your inductive throttle sensor makes its first signal. This will activate the speed controller and solenoid. The way this works is a relatively low powered circuit is made with the low side of the solenoid. This activates the steel rod in your solenoid, creating a circuit between the motor and the speed controlling systems on your golf cart. Once you release the pedal, the solenoid clicks off after a predetermined amount of time, saving your battery life.
A gas golf cart solenoid works in a relatively similar fashion. Except instead of an inductive throttle sensor, you have a micro switch that turns on when you press your gas pedal. This switch is what sends the low power to the solenoid. The solenoid uses this to create a circuit between the battery and the starter, thus starting your motor and getting you grooving.