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Introduction

In the fields of modern logistics and industrial production, electric forklifts have become key equipment for material handling due to their advantages such as environmental friendliness and low noise. Lead-acid batteries, as the main power source for electric forklifts, despite facing competition from new types of batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, still hold an important position in the market due to their mature technology, low cost, and excellent high-rate discharge performance. However, the maintenance of lead-acid batteries is rather complicated. If not maintained properly, it will not only shorten the battery's service life and increase the operating costs of enterprises, but also may affect the normal operation of forklifts and reduce production efficiency. Therefore, how to improve the maintenance efficiency of lead-acid batteries in electric forklifts has become an important issue that enterprises urgently need to solve.

1. Current Situation and Problems of Lead-acid Battery Maintenance for Electric Forklifts

(1) Maintenance

The repetitiveness and inefficiency of work

The maintenance of lead-acid batteries covers multiple aspects, including electrolyte inspection and replenishment, charging management, battery cleaning, and connection point inspection, etc. These work procedures are cumbersome and require maintenance personnel to have certain professional knowledge and skills. In actual operation, due to the insufficiently optimized maintenance process, the maintenance work of some enterprises is arbitrary and non-standardized, resulting in low maintenance efficiency.

(2) Common Maintenance Issues and Their Impact on Battery Performance: Electrolyte problems: The electrolyte is the key medium for lead-acid batteries to achieve electrochemical reactions. When the electrolyte level is too low, the plates will be partially exposed to the air, causing oxidation and sulfation of the plates, which in turn reduces the battery's capacity and charging and discharging performance. In addition, if the density of the electrolyte is too high or too low, it will also affect the chemical reaction efficiency of the battery and shorten its lifespan. In high-temperature environments, the evaporation of water in the electrolyte accelerates. If distilled water is not replenished in time, the density of the electrolyte will increase, accelerating the corrosion of the plates.

Charging issue: Unreasonable charging methods are one of the important factors affecting the lifespan of lead-acid batteries. Overcharging can cause a large amount of gas to be generated inside the battery, resulting in water loss of the electrolyte, deformation of the plates, and even triggering thermal runaway of the battery. Undercharging will prevent the lead sulfate on the battery plates from being fully converted into active substances. Over time, irreversible sulfation will form, reducing the battery's capacity. Some enterprises frequently use fast charging to save time, while neglecting the battery's endurance capacity, which can also cause damage to the battery.

Battery cleaning and connection issues: Dust, dirt and acid residue on the battery surface may cause an increase in battery self-discharge and reduce battery performance. At the same time, if the battery connection parts become loose or corroded, it will increase the contact resistance, causing more energy loss during charging and discharging, and may even lead to poor contact, affecting the normal operation of the forklift. In some working environments with a lot of dust, the surface of the battery is prone to accumulate a large amount of dust. If not cleaned in time, it will affect the battery's heat dissipation and further impact its performance.

2. The Importance of Enhancing Maintenance Efficiency

(1) Reduce operating costs

Extending the battery life is a direct manifestation of reducing operating costs. The procurement cost of a set of lead-acid batteries is not low. If the battery life can be extended from the original 2-3 years to 4-5 years through efficient maintenance work, enterprises can reduce the frequency of battery replacement and save a large amount of funds. Efficient maintenance can also reduce the downtime of forklifts caused by battery failures, avoiding production stagnation and economic losses resulting from shutdowns. According to statistics, a forklift shutdown caused by battery failure may bring losses of several thousand or even tens of thousands of yuan to an enterprise, including production delays, idle labor and other costs.

(2) Improve work efficiency

Stable and reliable battery performance is the guarantee for the efficient operation of electric forklifts. When the battery is properly maintained and can always maintain good charging and discharging performance, the forklift will not experience insufficient power or sudden power outages during operation, thus ensuring the continuity and efficiency of material handling work. In logistics warehouses, electric forklifts need to frequently load, unload and transport goods. If the battery performance is unstable, it will cause the forklift's operation speed to slow down, affecting the overall logistics turnover efficiency of the warehouse. By enhancing the efficiency of battery maintenance and ensuring stable battery performance, forklifts can complete various operation tasks quickly and smoothly, significantly improving work efficiency.

3. Strategies for Enhancing Maintenance Efficiency

(1) Establish a standardized maintenance process

Develop a detailed maintenance plan: Based on the user manual of lead-acid batteries and the actual usage conditions of the enterprise, formulate a comprehensive and detailed maintenance plan. Clearly stipulate the maintenance work contents and responsible persons that need to be carried out on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Daily maintenance includes battery appearance inspection, power level check, etc. Weekly maintenance covers electrolyte level checks, battery surface cleaning, etc. Monthly maintenance involves checking the charging system and tightening the connection parts, etc. Quarterly maintenance requires in-depth inspections of the battery, such as capacity tests and internal resistance tests.

Standardize operation procedures: Develop standardized operation processes and norms for each maintenance task. When replenishing the electrolyte, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the purity requirements of distilled water to be used, the timing of replenishment, and the liquid level standard for replenishment. During the charging operation, it is necessary to explain in detail the method of choosing the appropriate charger, the setting range of charging voltage and current, the control of charging time, and the handling methods for abnormal situations during the charging process, etc. By standardizing the operation procedures, it is ensured that maintenance personnel can accurately and efficiently complete all maintenance tasks, reducing maintenance errors and time waste caused by improper operation.

(2) Personnel training and Skills Enhancement

Professional knowledge training: Regularly organize maintenance personnel to participate in professional knowledge training courses on lead-acid batteries, and invite industry experts or technicians from battery manufacturers to give lectures. The training content includes the working principle, structural composition, performance characteristics, analysis of common fault causes and maintenance points of lead-acid batteries, etc. By delving into professional knowledge, maintenance personnel can better understand the operating mechanism of batteries, thereby accurately identifying problems and taking effective solutions in maintenance work.

Practical skills training: In addition to theoretical knowledge training, emphasis should also be placed on the training of practical skills. Set up a dedicated practical training venue, equipped with simulated battery maintenance equipment, to enable maintenance personnel to master the usage methods of various maintenance tools, the execution steps of maintenance processes, as well as fault detection and repair skills proficiently in actual operations. Organize maintenance personnel to conduct case analysis and discussion, share various battery problems encountered in actual work and their solutions, and improve the overall maintenance skills through experience exchange. Meanwhile, maintenance personnel are encouraged to constantly summarize experiences in their work and explore innovative maintenance methods to enhance maintenance efficiency and quality.

4. Conclusion

The maintenance efficiency of lead-acid batteries in electric forklifts has a crucial impact on the operating costs and work efficiency of enterprises. In the face of the complexity, inefficiency and common maintenance problems existing in the current maintenance work, enterprises need to improve maintenance efficiency and ensure the stability and reliability of battery performance by establishing standardized maintenance processes, strengthening personnel training and skill improvement, and applying advanced technologies and equipment to assist in maintenance. With the continuous development and application of emerging technologies such as new electrolyte additives and remote monitoring and maintenance platforms based on the Internet of Things, the maintenance work of lead-acid batteries is expected to enter a more efficient and intelligent development stage. Enterprises should closely follow the technological trends in the industry, actively introduce new technologies and methods, and continuously optimize the maintenance of lead-acid batteries to adapt to the increasingly fierce market competition and the constantly rising production and operation demands. Only in this way can the advantages of lead-acid batteries in electric forklifts be fully exerted, providing strong support for the development of enterprises.