Whether you are a lift truck dealer or a material handling fleet operator, you have a vested interest in turning your battery and charger matters over to a specialist. Batteries are silent, long-running power packages, but they are subject to wear, require specialized maintenance, and, improperly specified, can be the limiting factor in successful use […]
How Your Battery Shop Saves You Money Read More »
Throughout much of this century, the lead-acid motive power battery has remained largely unchanged. Paradoxically, this consistency has regularly inspired aftermarket products that promise performance improvements in the “plain vanilla” forklift battery. Although it has yet to be shown that battery electrolyte additives, charger gimmicks and many other novel accessories so much as provide a
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The electrolyte in a forklift battery is made up of sulfuric acid and water. It conducts electricity by providing for the transport of ions between positive and negative plates within the cells. In a lead acid battery, the electrolyte also participates in the chemical reaction that occurs during charging and discharging of the cells. This
Watering the Electric Truck Battery Read More »
A used electric lift truck with an unknown background may require some attention to ensure that it will operate reliably in normal use. Luckily, because an electric lift truck is a very low maintenance vehicle, this attention to detail is less than would be required by an engine-powered truck. For the purposes of this column,
Preparing an Electric Truck for Service Read More »
An old battery in an electric forklift is often an unknown quantity. It is potentially the weakest link in the material handling chain. If the truck is up for resale, and the battery is undocumented, the unknown can come back to haunt you. Worst of all, the true value of the battery in the transaction
Profit from Knowledge: Battery Tests have Value Read More »
Because industrial electric forklifts operate at high currents and low voltages, and use electrochemical cells as a power source, it is not unusual to encounter elevated temperatures somewhere in the system. Excessive heating of components should not be ignored, however, because this indicates a problem that may get progressively worse. Lead acid batteries heat up
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Uncertainty about the capacity of an electric lift truck battery is bad for business- both yours (if you are a material handling equipment dealer) and your customer’s. New batteries are clearly marked with an ampere–hour rating, but that value cannot be used as much of a guideline as the battery ages and is exposed to
The Battery Capacity Discharge Test Read More »
The critical part of a battery’s life cycle is the time it spends on charge. During charging, a battery is exposed to the most vigorous workout that the active material in the plates receive, and it is during this time that the battery experiences the most wear. Abnormal charging conditions expose the battery to accelerated
Proper Battery Charging Read More »
As forklift batteries age, they show the effects of long-term use in several ways. Some of these effects are potentially disabling to the battery, or may interfere with safe operation. The driving forces for many battery aging factors are: corrosion or erosion of battery structural materials by sulfuric acid; “positive plate growth”; and long-term heating
Weak Points on Aging Batteries Read More »
Interest is high in reducing battery maintenance time? This is reflected in some forklift owners’ interest in the newly available sealed “maintenance-free” style batteries. These batteries are finding customers despite factors such as very limited field experience for this technology in deep-cycle industrial use, high cost, and a requirement for special chargers that take hours
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