Alright, terrific you just received your new golf cart battery meter from Petes Golf Carts and you are ready to head to the garage and install it on your golf cart. Pete will now walk you thru the install of a new golf cart battery meter to keep up with the current status and state of charge of your golf carts battery bank.
Safety First!
Let’s head to the garage together. Let’s first talk safety, nothing serious here but if you do decide to install on the dash of your golf cart, power tools will make the job a lot easier. So with that being said, watch out for anything long or hanging when using high speed rotary tools, drills, dremels, etc… pull back hair, baggy shirts, tie, sunglasses on strap, etc… and wear safety glasses to avoid eye injuries from flying debris.
What you will need
You will need a few tools and some supplies for this little job installing your golf cart battery gauge.
Tool list
- Dremel or similar tool to cut slot for meter (holesaw and drill if you have a round meter)
- Digital or Analog Voltage Meter
- Razor knife
- Screw drivers
- Wire cutters and striper
- Vice Grips or Crimper
- Butane Torch or Lighter
Supplies
- 3′ of wire 14-18 Gauge (or longer depending on where you intend to install the battery meter)
- Heat shrink or Electrical tape
- Butt Connectors
- F2 terminal Connectors ( Included)
- Mounting Screws (Included)
Step by Step – How to Install Your New Golf Cart Battery Meter
Step One – Where to Mount your Meter?
First let’s determine where you intend to mount the golf cart battery meter?
Step Two – Get started
Let’s assume you are to mount on the dash.
You will then need approx. 3 pieces ( 3 pcs.) of 8-12″ of wire… 14-18 ga. is plenty.
Step Three – Prep your wires
Next prep the ends with the clippers, and strippers for terminal ends and butt connectors. (I recommend the marine-style ones because they have heat shrinking casing and glue inside so once connected and crimped then heated, they create a sealed connection from the outside environment (i.e. – no corrosion).
Step Four – Attach
Now you can attach the provided connectors and butt connectors to the wires.
We do a lot of Club Car Precedent model carts because I like the aluminum frames and lower plastic accessories that are easy to replace and are readily available in the event of damage.
So I will use this as a subject for this installation.
Note: All golf carts are very similar in nature so if you have a different model Club Car, you will most likely look at the same stuff I describe here in this article, or if you own a Ezgo or Yamaha golf cart likewise.
If you own a Club Car Precedent it will have an extra set of wires coming off the wire harness behind the dash and ignition switch. These wires are designed exactly for this type of battery indicator gauge or battery meter and will reflect the current battery bank voltage… Check with your multi-meter/digital voltage meter to be sure before connecting the prepared wires you are grabbing the correct wires.
Should indicate approx. 48v or 51 volt or so if fully charged battery bank. Sometimes you can use those wires directly to the meter. If you mount the meter close enough to the switch, the factory wires will reach.
Note: Some models of golf carts will require wires run from the positive and negative terminals on the battery bank to get the battery bank voltage. An alternative is tracking down the input voltage on a golf cart voltage reducer that are on some custom golf carts that have other 12v accessories like stereo or lights.
Step Five – Connect the signal terminal to ignition
Next step will be to connect the wire to the signal terminal on the meter to the ignition. You will need to add a jumper from the ignition on /off switch to the tab on the bottom of the battery gauge which is a signal wire. This way the meter only comes on when you turn the golf carts ignition on.
All of these meters are also clearly marked on back of the meter.
Rodney L Carlson 
pete 
Eric 
gwoccmed 
Luis Deleon 
Lynn Sinclair 
Bob 
Randy 
Joseph 
Mike 
George A Santulli 
17 thoughts on “How to Install Your New Golf Cart Battery Meter”
I have a 1994 EZGO golf cart, the wire coming off the negative post to the voltage meter has current passing through it. I thought the negative post, should not have any current, should the wire going to the voltage meter be grounded to the frame of the cart, so meter would get current from the key switch when turned on.
Rod – GM…. You should have three terminals coming off the meter… You will wire the positive and negative sides directly to the positive and negative most terminals on the battery bank… so on a 48v system it will be + and – 48v… The control wire that actually turns on the meter will come from the ignition switch. ” Make a short jumper from the terminal that becomes hot when key is moved to the on or run position on your switch to the other terminal on the battery meter.
Pete
Hi, I installed a 12/36/48 volt gauge on my 36v clubcar. The ground is on the negative spot, hot on the middle (36v) terminal, and ignition on the “C” spot. When it powers up, the lights flash from 1-0 (like it should when powering on), but then they shut off and don’t come back on. Please help! It’s driving me nuts!
Thanks!
Meters must be of correct voltage or it performs also as you describe.
Assuming you have the 36V gauge for your 36 volt cart – it’s no + current to the common.
On my used normally functioning1989 Club Car DS, I found the the key-switch to be on the negative (ground) side of the circuit loop (contrary to factory wiring diagrams) – since the frame is not grounded and otherwise not broken (i don’t want to fool with it) – I simply wired the meter with my new positive lead to meter’s Common AND +plus and then wired the -minus of the meter to the side of key-switch grounded only when switched on . Meter now functions correctly key on and off when key off. CAUTION: use a continuity meter be sure that your switch is REALLY switching/completing the ground loop before using this work around.
I installed one similar to the one shown right abowve the Tool List section. It dropped one bar while i was playing golf. Once i finished 18 holes i drove it home maybe a mile if that from the pro shop at the course. It barely made it home. But the meter was still at one bar from full. Do i have a bad meter?
Luis – Thank you for your question. A lot of people think this way but you cannot compare the action and the visual display as you would a gas tank with liquid in it. These golf cart battery meter or indicator gauges are manufactured to operate on a set voltage. So being they will display that voltage or less. For instance in a 48 volt golf cart the meter would need to be a 48 volt meter. If the meter reads 48 volts it will read full charge. Yet we know a 48 volt golf cart when fully charged will be (depending on battery configuration) between 49.5-51.8 volts… Now a 48 volt golf cart is also designed to operate on 48 volts… so as the meter starts to go below the full bar voltage in the bank is starting to go below 48 volts hence the cart will not perform optimally at that point. New golf cart batteries, On a full charge For Example – A 48 volt golf cart owner will play a round of golf and will still be above the 48 volt threshold of the battery banks capacity. One because the start / stop load not very demanding vs all out start stops continuously without letting the golf cart or batteries catch their breath per se… I would be wondering about battery health in your case Luis – Charge the batteries completely then you will need to perform a load test. Load the batteries to the advertised Amp Hour AH rating at 20 hrs…. Quick guide – average 6 volt golf cart batteries are 210-225Ah, average 8 volt golf cart batteries are 165-170Ah, and 12 volt golf cart batteries are 150Ah…. So to get an accurate assessment you will need to make sure they are fully charged and slightly rested – check voltage before each test. Apply the load required based on quick guide herein and you will want to see the following to confirm they are still in good shape. a 6 volt battery will need to maintain 5 volts for 15 seconds at the advertised 20hr Ah rating, a 8 volt battery will need to maintain 7 volts for 15 seconds at the advertised 20hr Ah rating, and then the 12 volt battery will need to maintain 11 volts for 15 seconds at the advertised 20hr Ah rating. I am thinking you have a bad battery in the batch not carrying its weight in the pack…. This will be immediately obvious as when you apply the load to that battery voltage will fall rapidly whereas a good battery will stand its ground and hold 80%-90% of the advertised voltage.
Hopefully this was helpful…
Power On…
Pete
I bought this meter and installed it and all it will do is just flash what did I do wrong
Lynn – How do you have it wired? Positive and Negative to battery bank 36v or 48v … then the tab that says “c” needs to be powered up as well. Properly it should go to the ignition switch terminal that is switched on position so when the cart is on and in use the meter shows charge status. But if not in use switched off it will be off as well. Some people are lazy and I see it on all the time because they wired the positive and the “c” ( Control wire together ) either way will work but wiring the control wire to the ignition switch is the right way to do it.
Pete’s team
I also have this meter ,and mine has one bar all the way on the right on all the time ,it doesn’t matter if the ignition is on or off ,one bar all the time . What’s wrong
Bob – Sounds like they wired the meter direct. You should have a positive, negative and a control terminal on the gauge. the control wire needs to be wired to ignition on ( Not wired hot with the positive ) . Alot of people do this as it is easier and takes half the time.
Pete
does the meter display all bars when fully charged ,or just one bar
I have a meter gauge installed on me 90 model ezgo when I hook it to positive an neg the light comes on before I hook it the switch an when I hook it to the switch it does not turn off know mater which wire I hook it too help
Randy – You should have a positive and a negative tab on the meter as well as a control tab … The C tab will need to go to the ignition on / off … wire so the control tab gets power in the on position… so when you turn the ignition switch off the battery meter goes off as well…
Pete’s team
Pete,
I bought the Analog Meter. I didn’t get it yet, but I believe it will have just a positive and a negative terminal. Do I just connect to the battery terminals because there is no third wire to the switch? This would have the meter on all the time. Would that be a problem?
Joe – Thank you for your purchase and question…. The meter will actually have a positive, negative and a control tab – labeled + – C … simply run a wire from the C tab to the on position on the key switch… Problem solved…
Power On…
Pete
Pete, I replaced a 48v Curtis Meter with a cheaper Chinese model. I swapped the wires in the exact order of the original also paying attention to the terminal numbers. The meter correctly displays the battery level but it stays on all the time. The difference between the two meters is the new one has a diode connecting terminals 1 and 4? Not sure why. The key switch is plugged into terminal 4. Any idea why it won’t switch on with the key?
I see mention of connecting the “C” terminal on the meter to the on/off switch, but not clear on which terminal on the switch you connect to.
Also, can the 14 or 16 gauge wire you mention be “audio speaker” wire, or is there a wire specifically for such uses as hooking this meter up.Or is 14 gauge wire the same whether for speaker use or this meter hookup?
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