A recent claim by a leading energy provider states that electric forklifts can save up to 80 percent of the fuel costs associated with trucks that run on internal combustion engines, specifically those powered by liquid propane. Of course, an electric company certainly has a vested interest in encouraging the switch from IC to electric power. So how accurate is… Continue Reading
Home » Posts tagged "forklift batteries"
Archives
Managing Forklift Batteries in Food Production Facilities
If you use forklifts in a food production capacity, odds are those trucks are electric. Electric lift trucks run cleaner and don’t release emissions, making them ideal for the super-clean, hazard-sensitive nature of a food production facility. Of course, while electric forklifts won’t leak oil or leave a layer of soot on the machinery, forklift batteries do sometimes leak. Electrolyte… Continue Reading
Watering Forklift Batteries in Fast Charge Applications
Watering forklift batteries is fairly simple when you operate a well-run battery room. When chargers are distributed throughout a facility, however — as in many fast charge applications — things get a little more complicated. First off, battery fleet management systems in traditional battery rooms ensure that all batteries remain on an adequate watering and maintenance schedule. These systems are… Continue Reading
Managing Industrial Batteries in Cold Storage Applications
While electric forklifts are ideal for cold storage facilities, low temperatures aren’t great for battery performance. The battery that provides a full eight hours of power in ambient temperatures might give out after just half that time in below-zero temperatures. The additional charge cycles wear on batteries and cut down on overall performance life. Users can address and minimize these… Continue Reading
Industrial Batteries and Safety: Comparing Lead-Acid, Lithium-Ion, and Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Electric forklifts continue to gain market share over internal-combustion variants, but the industry is still looking for the next generation of battery power. And while electric forklifts are clearly the material-handling mainstay of the future, batteries remain happily in the present. Newer motive-power technologies — notably lithium ion and hydrogen fuel cells — are available, but they haven’t yet taken… Continue Reading
Electrician Safety in the Forklift Battery Room
The unique power demands of forklift battery rooms create singular electrical hazards. Electricians can’t simply cut power to the system and proceed without caution; batteries remain energized even when separated from charging systems. Additionally, unless the battery room was designed with working clearance and guarding around all live components, it can be a particularly dangerous place for workers to enter…. Continue Reading
Lead-Acid Batteries Most Recycled Item in the U.S.
Sustainability-minded warehouse operators have another strong reason to choose electric forklifts over their internal-combustion counterparts. Lead-acid batteries are the most-recycled item in the United States. We already know that lead-acid batteries have a near 100-percent recycling rate. But a 2017 study from Battery Council International and Essential Energy Everyday found that this makes the humble lead-acid battery the most-recycled item… Continue Reading
Electric Forklifts at Construction Material Warehouses
Construction professionals are probably familiar with gas-powered rough-terrain forklifts, but electric counterbalance lift trucks are often the best option for indoor applications like a firm’s materials warehouse. Electric forklifts offer many advantages over the construction industry’s standard rough-terrain lift truck, at least when operating in a strict material-handling capacity on warehouse floors designed for such traffic. The benefits of going… Continue Reading
Forklift Battery Management for Manufacturers
The manufacturing industry can’t operate without adequate material handling systems, and, inevitably, those systems include forklifts. From replenishment to handling pallets of raw goods and finished products, forklifts provide the muscle that keeps manufacturing lines running. It comes as something of a surprise, then, that manufacturing facilities don’t always apply the same engineering interventions that they use to keep lines… Continue Reading
Preparing the Forklift Battery Room for DC Peak Season
Every retailer has a peak season, and distribution centers are no different. Certainly, the peak can differ between one outlet and another — an office-supply store may experience peak season during the final days of the summer, when parents stock up for back-to-school season, while most general ecommerce DCs brace for the winter holidays. Whenever peak-to-average order ratios soar, it’s… Continue Reading
