Forklift cell dead - help!!!

[astro_al]

Hi guys, I scored a nice old forklift (Coventry Climax EC1.6) for 200 quid. (Cost me more to get it delivered...)

The other day I had a hydrogen gas explosion while I was driving it. I subsequently learned to remove the seat / cover from it before charging the batteries...! Duh.

Anyway, after changing my underwear I found that the top of one cell has blown off. Now, I can either replace the cell (but they all look very well wedged in to the metal tank), or bypass it and run with 2V lower than before. I've heard this is ok, and that you can drill and tap the adjacent cell's terminals to fit a bypass cable. Any idea what bits I need to do this? Copper cable sizing? How to drill thick lead without breaking the drill?

Any ideas / tips / help very gratefully received. Cheers, Al.

P.S. any general advice on leccy forklifts much appreciated too.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

I don't know the specifics but you need to be aware that there will be a very big spark if you short anything out on a multi-cell battery! Instananeous current will be very high, I've seen the remain of a screwdriver dropped across a 50v telephone exchange battery where it vaporised the blade.

The safest way would be to put an ammeter on it and read what sort of current it draws and then use a suitably sized connection lead. It may be best if someone can give a ball-park figure for amps before doing that though as you wouldn't want to melt the ammeter.

Regards
Peter

 

[chriskelland]

What voltage is the FLT? The higher the volts the less effect from bypassing a cell. Does the machine have a contactor or a solid state controller, if its a contactor you could find surge currents in the hundreds of amps, especially if its a low voltage machine. FLT batteries in my day were seperate cells and could be replaced, pricey if they are not rented, it depends on the state of the rest of the cells as to whether its worth it. If you by pass the dud cell the only thing you may notice is you travel a bit slower but if your lifting close to max the forks may go up a lot slower or may need charging more often. Nice one for £200 quid! What is it ? counter balance or reach?

Chris.

 

[astro_al]

Hi, thanks a lot for the replies.

Peter - yes, I have a mate who worked for BT, so I've heard the stories / seen the training vids as to the dangers with these type of cells! Hope it stops me doing something stupid.

Chris - I'm not sure what FLT is, but they are 2V cells with a total voltage of 72V. I'm not sure what a contactor is, so, er... type unknown! Its pretty old though, if that helps! Ok, I can definitely cope with it travelling slightly slower, so thats good news. Do you have any advice on the actual bypassing process? I guess I 'just' cut the lead (thats the material used for roofing, not another word for cable) straps connecting the offending cell, drill down into the top of the terminals either side and what, self-tapping screw on a cable termination thingy? Will some copper cable do the job, welder earth lead style?

Umm, er... counterbalance I think??? Whassadiff? I'll grab a piccy if I can. Its in real good condition mechanically, from what I've seen, so I hope I can keep it running. I even thought about throwing a generator under the seat instead of the batteries if worst came to worst, not sure how feasible that is though.

The guy I bought it off had the charger wired through a 24 hour timer to come on for 15 mins every day, is that a good plan?

Many thanks again, Al.

 

[Tino]

If it's only bust the top and still holds water/acid, just keep using it. It will just have more ventilation than the others but should still work OK. We had one for years with almost every cell bust after a similar mishap.

 

[chriskelland]

Ok, 72 volts thats good you wont lose much with one cell down. FLT = Fork Lift Truck.
Contactor= old way of varying the power to the traction motor. Have a good look at the battery bank and see that they have seperate cells, not all together, like a car and just take that cell out of circuit. If you are unsure can you take a pic please. Have to say it can't be that old to run on 72v. I've worked on 24v and 36v FLTs and they were really old. I think the oldest was a narrow isle reach truck, 24v and you stood on a little platform at the back, OK for instruction but not for real work.

Chris.

Chris

 

[astro_al]

Right, hi guys, here is the situation.

1 FLT - I get it now...

2 Steel tank full of 2V cells (blown one is at bottom of pic)

3 The offending article.

Tino - I was hoping to just run it as you say, the cell still reads 2V, but when I plug the battery into the forklift it starts to smoke, so I unplug it. Quickly.

In the 3rd pic, the lead connector from the cell on the right hand side to the broken cell is in a hell of a state. I think it was sparks from this that ignited the hydrogen given off by the blown cell. When I plugged it back in to test it, as soon as I tried to lift the forks (trigger the hydro pump), this terminal gave off another shower of sparks in the direction of the blown cell.

So my intention is to cut the lead strap either side, clean up the crappy terminals, drill them for a self-tapping something or other and then whack on a cable. I have a 20mm squared copper cable lying around. That any use for it?

Thanks for any help!

Al.

 

[chriskelland]

That's a nice looking machine for what you paid it looks clean and tidy, any oil leaks? As I thought all seprate cells and a good make, probably one of the best. It would pay you to have the batteries checked and see how much to replace the cell, there's a lot of indipendent flt engineers about who would do that for you, cheap.

Chris.

 

[zzr1200]

Theres normally a spec plate that states the "Battery Cell Type" stamped on it, as there could be loads of different battery capacities for the same forklift.

hth

http://www.forkliftbattery.co.uk/products.php

http://www.powercell.co.uk/batteries_lead.htm?gclid=CJHFg9W28ZoCFdUB4wodLXn-Jw

http://www.advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/forklifts.html