The 18V Power Wheels Mod

In this video I show you how I modified my son's 12v Power Wheels truck. This truck originally had a 12v battery and I replace it with two 18v Milwaukee batteries.
This is a link to the original video that I got this idea from:
• Power Wheels Vehicle 1...
Links to all the parts I used:
DC Variable Speed Controller
www.amazon.com...
Wired Fuse Holder
www.amazon.com...
Milwaukee Battery Adaptor
www.amazon.com...
#mitchellsgarage #powerwheels #milwaukeetools

[@vendright]

Best Dad ever

[@dham99]

not sure what the Power Wheels have, but the BCP 12v Jeeps have a built in voltage gauge in the radio..and it goes up past 20v. Might want to mark the controller where its 'threshold' is. But that printed bracket is awesome. I've upgraded my daughters 12v system with 2 new 12v7ah batteries in parallel, but i want more power. So i'm looking into getting all the components to upgrade the motor, esc, remote, and do the 18v/20v battery upgrade then just keep the controller at that max. She's 18 months so i dont need a lot more speed, i want power for climbing and traversing rough terrain. I see the Raptors rear axle flexing when he's punching it...may need to put some sort of torsion set up to dampen the flex ^_^ btw nice vette sitting back there too! one of my fav colors and years back in the day

[@patrickvaughn4784]

I just did this upgrade and experienced the same thing with the motor controllers. The ones I bought had an internal 30A micro fuse. I replaced that fuse and truck ran for 20ft and blew the fuse again. I removed the motor controller and wired direct to the battery with a 30A inline fuse. Same thing truck ran 20ft and blew the fuse. Going to try a 40A tomorrow.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

I swapped the internal fuse in the speed controller to a 40A and haven’t had any more issues.

[@patrickvaughn4784]

@@mitchellsgarage9366 Good to know. I order a 60A motor controller and a ton of fuses.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

@@patrickvaughn4784 let me know how that works. I might have to do that upgrade also.

[@hd2kill]

Very Cool

[@nainbailon6350]

Basically how do I do the wiring properly the way you do

[@nickmuller2806]

Thinking about doing this mod but have 2 questions. Do you run a low voltage cutoff to keep the batteries safe? Also how is the heat the higher voltage generates? Does it shut down the motors or melt the gears?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

The only issue I have had with low voltage is while leaving the batteries plugged in over the winter. They were so low that the charger didn't recognize them. I don't have anything installed for low voltage. The kids will usually let you know when it is getting slow and needs charged before the batteries ever get too low. As for heat, no issues there either. I think 18-20v is about the max to safely push these before you need to start upgrading other components.

[@Bward216]

This will kill batteries. I set this up and had it turned all the way up, it ran until it didn't and my battery was toast. Get the low voltage cutoff unless you want to keep shelling out for batteries

[@devinwilkerson5315]

Do you sell the voltage controller mount you made?

[@hd2kill]

Where could the Stl file for the speed controller be had ?

[@joshuastenz3892]

Hi Mitchell - do you have your 3D model you could share for 3D printing the speed control mount?

[@danielbob4310]

The fuse supposed to go between the battery and the voltage regulator

[@DAV4WSR1]

🤣😂 Don't telle MOM 👍

[@LuisMartinez-tu4ci]

Excuse my ignorance. Why did you use two 18v Milwaukee batteries? I’ve seen most videos where they only use one.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Two batteries allows me longer run time (two 5ah batteries wired in parallel gives me 10ah of capacity, which I just so happen to multiples of these batteries). It can however operate with just one battery without any wiring changes since the batteries were wired in parallel.

[@LuisMartinez-tu4ci]

@@mitchellsgarage9366 Gotcha! I’m gonna run the same setup you did. Thanks for the great video!

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

@@LuisMartinez-tu4ci Awesome! If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to help you.

[@BrandonMitchell84]

Why is it that not one of these videos shows how to actually wire the speed controller ???? So frustrating

[@PL_Con]

Happy father's day

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Thanks!

[@wyatts_dad]

Very clean....one question...how would you run lights and other 12v accessories without burning them out with the 18v?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

There’s a number of ways you could do this actually. You could jump off the batteries and install a potentiometer to turn the voltage down ~14vdc. If you were just doing lights and in pairs, you could simply wire them in series. This would give the lights ~10vdc each since the batteries at full charge are actually 20 volts inseam of 18 volts. If it were me, I think I would install a Milwaukee 12vdc battery and run it separately for all the accessories you are wanting to run.

[@ll.7927]

U can also run resistor b4 said item.

[@collinsmccoy8734]

the finished project came out great by any chance do you still have the cad file for the holder?

[@joshuastenz3892]

Any luck getting a copy of the CAD file?

[@nainbailon6350]

I’m trying to replicate the same thing you did how do I know which wires go to the regulator box

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

The speed controller that I used had 4 terminals on it. It has +/- Input (battery) and it has +/- Output (Motor). To wire this, I hooked both positive wires from the batteries to the + Input and the negative wires from the batteries to the - Input on the controller. I then hooked the positive and negative, from the existing wires that use to plug into the old power wheels battery, to the +/- Output (motor) terminals on the speed controller. I believe the white wire was positive and the black wire was negative. If you hook it up that way and the truck goes backward instead of forward, just flip the black and white wires.

[@marshallb754ify]

Think you could print me one of those speed control holders? I’m doing one of these conversations.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Sure can. Is there a certain color you would like?

[@lou_02]

Why did you use 2 batteries?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Two batteries allows me longer run time. It can however operate with just one battery without any wiring changes since the batteries were wired in parallel.

[@bryans4104]

Would you share the .STL file for the controller bracket? Thanks!

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Sure! What is your email?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Sorry I must have missed your reply. I just emailed you the .stl file.

[@michaelnguyen2909]

@@mitchellsgarage9366 would you please share it with me as well? Please and thank you!

[@ShepGoneWild]

Any idea why my 40 amp fuses keep blowing?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

That's tough without seeing how it operates. Multiple different issues could cause it. Too much weight, a steep hill in grass, shifting into forward and reverse without being stopped.

[@ShepGoneWild]

@@mitchellsgarage9366 none of the above. I put battery in and press the pedal with my hand and fuse blows. I've taken this thing apart looking for a short and nothing. I'm now thinking it has to be a bad pedal or shifter? Thanks for your replies.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

@@ShepGoneWild I'm guessing you are talking about the blue ATV in your videos? Yea it could be a short in the pedal or shifter. If it's blowing instantly, you definitely have a dead short somewhere. If you put a meter across the positive and negative on the pedal without power hooked up, it should read open (no continuity) with the pedal up and down. I hope that helps some.

[@ShepGoneWild]

@@mitchellsgarage9366 its actually the black one. It's a dynacraft surge xl. It has upgraded 30krpm motors and was fast with 12v. It ran good for a couple of days and now just blows the fuse. I will try the test. Thank you.

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

@@ShepGoneWild does it have two motors? If so, try unhooking one and see if it blows the fuse. Then hook it back up and do the same thing but unhook the other motor. I wouldn't be surprised if you had a motor with a short to ground. Much more likely than the switch.

[@yanglee206]

How has it been holding up?

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

So far so good. Only problem was the speed controller. There is a 30amp fuse in it that we popped. I put a 35amp in there and no issues.

[@Jay2Dub]

Super clean install 👍🏾

[@mitchellsgarage9366]

Jeff Daugherty thanks! 🙏

[@Twyer24]

I have the same setup. Been struggling with blown fuses and burnt up motor even with upgraded motors

[@kxldaking7939]

No I don't

[@alayahwilliams8159]

Hi