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FORM NO. 56043098 - Convertamatic

™

24, 26, 28, 32 / BA 625, 725, 825 - 51

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

BATTERY MAINTENANCE WET CELL BATTERIES

Proper maintenance of electric vehicle batteries can greatly extend their life. Well-maintained batteries may last up to 3 years, but failure after 1 year is common if

maintenance has been poor.

There are 3 simple rules for good battery maintenance:

• Maintain Proper Electrolyte Level (Weekly) - Use distilled water in batteries whenever possible. If batteries are discharged, add just enough water to cover the

plates in each cell. If batteries are fully charged, ﬁ ll each cell to the bottom of the ﬁ ller tube. Do not over-ﬁ ll the batteries! Do not add acid to batteries!

• Keep the Batteries Charged (Weekly) - Batteries should be charged each time that a machine is used for more than 1 hour. Machine operators should open

the battery compartment cover for charging, to avoid a concentrated build-up of hydrogen gas. Operators should follow the instructions provided with their

speciﬁ c battery charger, to determine how long the batteries should be charged. Even when a machine is stored, the batteries should be charged once a month

to prevent the batteries from “sulfating”. Almost all battery caps are vented, so there’s no need to loosen or remove them for charging.

• Keep the Batteries Clean (Monthly) - Use a damp cloth to wipe dirt from the top of the batteries. Battery terminals must be clean and tight. If the tops of the

batteries are wet after charging, the batteries have probably been over-ﬁ lled or over-charged. Note: If there is acid on the batteries, wash the tops of the

batteries with a solution of baking soda and water (2) tablespoons of baking soda to 1 quart of water.

BATTERY TESTING

A battery problem is usually recognized by the machine operator, as a decrease in the machine’s running time. This condition is usually caused by one or more “dead

cells” in the battery system- that is, one or more cells that are putting out less voltage than the other cells.

Note: Always charge batteries before testing.

There are 2 ways to ﬁ nd a dead cell:

• Use a hydrometer to check the speciﬁ c gravity (or “state of charge”) of the ﬂ uid in each cell. A dead cell is one that reads 50 points (or more) lower than the

other cells.

• Use a volt meter to check the voltage of each battery with the scrub and drive motors running. The battery with the dead cell will read 1 or 2 volts lower than

the other batteries in the system.

If the batteries in the machine are more than 1 year old, it’s usually best to replace the whole set, rather than replacing just one battery.