Even the best industrial battery can fail prematurely without proper care. Keeping your forklift battery healthy and extending its life relies on regular maintenance and inspections. Depending on use, a battery usually lasts about five years, but can last up to seven with appropriate maintenance.
Barclay Brand Ferdon offers inspections, planned maintenance and full maintenance programs for all forklift brands. We can help you get the most use possible from your forklift batteries.
Industrial Battery Maintenance
Keep your batteries operational longer by developing and following an appropriate Battery Maintenance Program. This should include daily, weekly and monthly inspections and maintenance and an annual inspection and review. Your maintenance regime should include adhering to appropriate charging methods, water level checks, and safety precautions.
Charging & Overcharging
Charging an industrial battery too often will shorten its lifespan and potentially damage the battery. Discharging it too much can cause changes in the amount of power supplied, which can also damage the electrical components and motor of the forklift it powers. Always use an appropriately sized charger and never interrupt the charge cycle once you’ve started it. Batteries should also be equalized weekly.
Water Level Checks
Check your forklift battery’s water level regularly to ensure plates are kept covered, but only add clean distilled water after charging to prevent overflowing. Overflow causes loss of electrolyte, which can corrode the battery tray and other metal surfaces and decrease the battery’s output. When used daily, forklift batteries typically need watering about once a week. Batteries operated in warm environments or multiple cycles per day may require watering twice a week. Batteries that boil over may indicate a watering error. Follow the manufacturer-provided watering schedule or we can provide one for you.
Safety Precautions
Keep batteries clean and dry, so they live longer, have fewer problems and keep equipment and personnel safe from explosive battery gases. Always wear a facemask or goggles, rubber gloves, and apron when cleaning batteries. Clean up spills or overflows immediately and thoroughly clean and neutralize batteries monthly. We recommend our Pro Wash cleaning and neutralizing solution for both quick cleanups and neutralizing the tops of your batteries.
If you’re having industrial battery or charger problems, we have experts who can show you how to get the battery power you need at the lowest annual cost. Contact us for battery maintenance training or call 908-223-8580 to discuss your maintenance needs.
