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21. MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE
21.1. Only EZ-ACCESS approved technicians may service the VPL. Contact your dealer with questions or to
schedule any needed inspections, repairs, or service.
21.2. If the platform and guard ramp surface are covered with frost, ice and/or snow, remove frost, ice and/or
snow before using the VPL.
Calcium chloride is often used to deice and prevent ice from forming on roads. Used properly, this
may be useful to help rid or keep your VPL platform free of frost, ice, and snow. Calcium chloride
may not always be effective in removing frost, ice and/or snow.
21.3. Weekly test and ensure that the safety pan, the built-in device designed to detect obstructions under the
platform, is not damaged, moves freely up and down, and illuminates the OBSTRUCTION lamp on the
control box when the safety pan is pushed up toward the platform.
21.4. Refer to ‘WARNINGS’ throughout this manual for important safety and maintenance information.
22. BATTERIES, COLD WEATHER, AND REPLACEMENT EQUIVALENTS
Batteries and cold weather can combine to create an unexpected early-morning interruption – a dead
battery. This is a common experience, especially in the northern latitudes. Before we explore the main
causes, and how we might reduce the possibility of this happening, first let us cover a little housekeeping.
EZ-ACCESS is not a battery or a battery blanket manufacturer, we purchase our batteries from known battery
manufacturers – we cannot advise people to use battery blankets contrary to a battery blanket
manufacturer’s recommendation. Consult your battery blanket manufacturer for more information before
deciding how to use a battery blanket with your VPL batteries.
We are in contact with battery manufacturers around the world; we are researching available battery
technologies; we are diligently working on resolves for battery-related issues. Research has shown us that at
this point, there is no 100% effective solution. EZ-ACCESS has had customers use battery blankets with their
VPLs in cold weather with excellent results. This document contains information collected from those
customers, EZ-ACCESS own experiences, as well as from manufacturers of batteries of all types i.e., flooded
lead acid, gel cell, absorbent glass mat, and lithium-ion batteries, deep cycle, etc.
Basically, all batteries fall into one of two categories: lead-acid deep cycle batteries, and lithium-ion deep
cycle batteries. The absolute most important thing to know about all types of batteries is this:
A BATTERY’S CHARGE RATE MUST ALWAYS BE MAINTAINED AS DISCHARGED
BATTERIES WILL DEVELOP DAMAGE AND FAIL.
Today, the best answer for our cold-weather-environment customers is to use a battery blanket. These are
readily available, not expensive, and are proven technology.
BE AWARE THAT BATTERY BLANKETS REQUIRE ATTENTION SO AS NOT TO
OVERHEAT THE BATTERIES IN LESS THAN AT-OR-NEAR FREEZING TEMPERATURES.
CONSULT YOUR BATTERY DEALER FOR MORE INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE.
Note that llithium-ion and other deep-cycle batteries are not without cold weather issues. Here is a response
from one of our battery manufacturers on cold weather and batteries:
Unfortunately, cold weather impacts all rechargeable/deep cycle batteries similarly.
There is a reduction in capacity as temperatures drop. There are no products that will
perform differently in those environments. What you can do to compensate for the cold
temperatures is to keep the battery at a full state of charge or increase the capacity of the
battery you are using to help compensate for the typical reduction. Keeping the battery
warmer will certainly help the cause as well.
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