FAQs
What carts will this work on?
Our motorized assist kits are designed to install easily onto these carts:
- Backstage or Yaeger camera carts with a 10" caster wheel, or any camera cart with a similar wheel mount system.
- Inovativ Voyager Evo, Voyager NXT and Apollo Carts with adaptor plates/or Inovativ forks (Inovativ Echo-style carts currently unavailable)
- Any lighting/sound/equipment cart with a standard 4-hole bolt pattern and a 10" wheel, (Backstage, StageCraft, most all types of equipment carts)
- Magliners possible with 10" wheel conversion
What's the difference between a STUDIO and LOCATION kit?
The STUDIO kit runs on existing 24V power sources, either camera block batteries or Goldmount batteries.
The LOCATION kit comes with a dedicated 52V battery and requires a minimum 48V input.
The STUDIO line is for lighter weight carts, and people that want electric ASSIST and don’t mind pushing their cart a little every once in a while to get up an incline or over rough terrain. The least expensive, smallest and simplest to install, the Studio takes up very little room on the cart, plus uses existing batteries for simplicity.
The LOCATION line is for heavier carts (400-1200lbs or more), and gets you up steeper inclines or rougher terrain, and will require less pushing. The system is a little more complex to install and keep charged with the additional battery, but gives you extra power for bigger carts or smaller cart pushers.
How do these motorized kits perform on actual sets?
If you're looking for some real world examples of how a motorized kit performs, here's a collection of our best customer videos.
Can I push the wheels without the throttle?
Yes you can 'free-wheel' or push the cart without using the throttle or the battery. There is minimal resistance and it does not damage the motor
How can I power the kits?
For the STUDIO line, any 24 volt DC power source will work, such as standard block batteries, or two Gold Mount batteries using our 24V Gold Mount Plate.
For the LOCATION LINE, a 48-volt battery is required, which comes with each complete LOCATION kit.
How long will the LOCATION battery last?
Most LOCATION users are going a full work week or more without charging. Difficult terrain or long distances can drain the battery more quickly, but daily charges are usually not necessary.
Switching off the system when not in use and overnight also greatly improves battery life.
How long will the STUDIO battery last?
Depending on the weight of the cart and the terrain results will be variable. When tested with 350lbs on the cart a VCLX lasted 25 minutes, and went about 1.5 miles.With 2 dionic 90s & 350lbs lasted about 15 minutes and went over a half a mile.
Can a 48V LOCATION kit be powered from a camera battery?
Unfortunately, we don't currently have the capability to allow users to switch between 24V and 48V battery sources in the field. Block batteries and Goldmount batteries provide limited amperage, so even when combining them to provide 48V, the performance is limited compared to our 48V LOCATION batteries. Plus combining multiple camera block batteries increases the chances for over-amping camera batteries.
Rather than risk damaging camera batteries, we've decided to only provide 48V systems with dedicated batteries that can provide the proper amperage and give the best performance.
How do I know how much power I need? How do I check these kits out?
There is no substitute for putting your thumb on the throttle. If you're in the LA-area, you can schedule a demo with us and stop in our shop to find out how these kits perform.
You can see the difference in power between a LOCATION and STUDIO, and you can even bring your cart by for a fitting for cabling and mounting.
If you’re not in the area, we recommend you contact us about your cart and what you want it to do, the type and weight of your cart, and we can help you decide what the right kit is for you. We might even have a demo unit in your area, or other users we can put you in contact with.
Where did single wheel kits go?
We highly recommend choosing the dual wheel option over the single wheel kits for a better experience. Single wheel kits can easily burn-out and pull to one side, leading to less than ideal outcomes.
Our priority is to ensure that you have the best possible experience with our kits. If you find that you really only need one wheel, please reach out to us via email at Info@makeyourcartgo.com.
Will this motorized wheel also brake?
The electric system does not have the capability for regenerative braking, and the motors provide very little stopping power if you run in reverse against gravity.
But more reliable and robust braking for your cart is available with our hydraulic dual caliper braking systems available for all motorized cart kits.
Do you have a warranty? How long will these things last?
Each kit comes with a 1-year limited warranty, but the true durability we are still testing.
We’ve built these wheel kits to be as simple and durable as possible, and stand by our designs and build quality. If something doesn’t work, we’ll look into it and fix it, and we’ll only charge you if it was clearly damaged or beyond expected wear and tear.
While our field testers and early users have been out there happily throttlin’ for more almost two years now with very few breakdowns, we don’t have any other real world data about the lifetime of these parts, so we are discovering the expected durability as we go.
So as long as we can foresee, you can always bring it back to us and we’ll try to make it right. We strive towards building simple and dependable, so if anything goes wrong, we’ll do our best to fix it.
Do the wheels provide power regeneration? Will it help charge the battery when I’m pushing it or going downhill?
No, our motors do not have regeneration capability enabled, primarily to protect camera block batteries from any possible damage. You can push with confidence that no power will be headed back to your Anton Bauer or Goldmount batteries.
How do I install the kit on my cart?
Most people can easily install these kits themself in under an hour. Many of these installs happen at camera preps. We can do custom installations at our shop in Los Angeles, please email to inquire.