Your forklift batteries must always be handled with care-that’s given. So is taking pains to make sure you charge them for the correct amount of time and hook them up correctly to the charger. Batteries are expensive and you need them to last their full life. You also can’t afford the down time if you don’t have batteries ready for your forklifts or cherry pickers. These are all reasons why you must do one more important thing to protect your batteries-clean them. Cleaning them extends their life and cuts costs.
The white corrosion that builds up around the terminals eventually becomes conductive. They are formed from gasses that naturally occur from within the batteries, and as they accumulate, they start to sap the power from the batteries as they become paths for power that ends up grounding on the battery cases themselves. Washing your batteries will prevent this from happening. Removal of the conductive substance s also means eliminating corrosives that eat away at battery terminal wires and thus cuts unnecessary maintenance costs.
Proper Battery Washing
Do take precautions. You don’t just spray them with a pressure washer-you’ll risk electrocution and also spill the hazardous materials contained in the caked sulfates that you wash off the batteries. The residual water is classified as an EPA hazard. It’s best to have a proper washing program which includes a recognized waste water recycling program. Programs are usually facilitated by metals manufacturers, since they can extract the metals from the water to manufacture metal and thus recycle it safely.