Dead fork lift Cells??

[stable]

Hi Guys,

Got this fork lift in the workshop - kinda comes with the place. Here's the plate:

So it's got a big battery of 36x 2v cells. Over the few years I've been in the workshop it's performance has dropped, then suddenly off a cliff. Inspection found 2 totally dead cells.

The land lord wont spend a penny on it. Nor scrap it. He just said park it up! I have no money to spend on it. And rarely use it. But would rather it didn't die.

So I jumped the 2x dead cells. Initial testing seems it's come back to life. But I'm scared to charge as will the reduced cells fry from the charger chucking out to much juice? I put it on charge for 5 mins but the cells did seem to bubble more than I remember??

Any advice appreciated. Bare in mind I don't use this thing daily and it owes me nothing.

Tom

 

[slim_boy_fat]

You've nothing to lose by giving it a go, since it's turned into an ornament anyway. I'd put it on a slow charge and keep checking it.

What could possibly go wrong.........?

 

[BrokenBiker]

you arent going to break it any more!

in all honesty it should be ok, 4V isnt the end of the world...if you had seen the bodgery that goes on where i work where we are supposed to gang charge groups of 40 batteries on initial charge after being filled but in actual fact we usually drop down to groups of 20 on the same charge data, you wouldnt worry lol...

whats the worst that could happen? your already dead forklift is even more dead? flog it for spares and buy another

 

[rtbcomp]

...whats the worst that could happen? ...

The battery could explode, demolish your workshop and shower everyone with acid. The spiders would survive and mutate into monsters and scare the children.

 

[awemawson]

Pull the two cells, flush them out thoroughly to get the build up of crud that's shorting the plates out, then re-acid them and I be that they'll be ok. Probably need to be inverted when flushing

 

[stable]

Wow thanks guys. Yeah it's the explosion thing that has me worried. I'm miles from the workshop, loads of pricey stock in there. Not that I'd charge it when away but I'd have a tough time managing a fire either way!

Maybe I'll pull those cells. They were reading like 0.1V but worth a try I guess. Given them a good go with Epsom salts already.

Tom

 

[Maker]

36x 2v cells.

The label looks like it says 7.2, not 72 volts, or is that a spec of crap on the label/camera?

 

[awemawson]

Lead acids usually go 'dead' as material flakes off the plates and falls to the bottom shorting them together. (Sometimes the build up of sulphates on the plates will make a cell go high resistance)

...flush the crud !!!