Sure is hard to move a forklift battery...

softdown
softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
edited December 2015 in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
Got the forklift stuck nine feet from the desired location a few months ago. Took many hours to move 1652 pounds a total of nine feet while dealing with some ice and dirt.

Seems like the only thing that works is a large engine hoist. Plan on moving the battery about a foot at a time. Plan on bracing the hoist with every new location. Exercise caution. When the battery is lifted, the immense weight throws things around. I dumped the battery over once and could have been severely injured or crushed. It really threw the engine hoist when it won the leverage battle.

Forklift batteries have pretty good caps. Lost a couple tablespoons of acid, at most, in the ~ 4-5 minutes it took to lift the battery back up. Forklift battery disconnect lugs are a good way to quickly connect/disconnect a battery array. They are color coded. If your battery has a grey connector, you need to use a grey connector to mate with it. Costs about $40, or more, for a pair of connectors with 1/0 or 2/0 or 3/0 or 4/0 lugs. Smaller lugs, such as 1/0, logically costs a little less.
First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,891 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Maybe a forklift for Christmas?
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Got a 12,000 pound forklift for scrap value. Deal? Well I blew my 488 cubic inch engine going over the mountain pass. Transmission now sometimes slips a little bit in overdrive.

    Was having a very hard time finding a replacement 488 that wasn't worn out. So I decided to buy an old truck at auction. Things went sideways due to extensive log in problems. Wound up with Ford truck with extensive electrical problems due to water damage.

    Then my locksmith brother must of decided I was too wealthy due to buying forklifts and trucks. I got relieved of 120 pounds of buried silver by a....locksmith. Coincidence?

    That forklift almost killed me. $1500 initial purchase leveraged itself into a $40,000 loss. No thanks to forklifts. Though I continue to search for used forklift batteries.

    The forklift battery has S.G. of 1.27. Seems to be a good battery.

    Christmas? I am figuring out how to afford a shower more than every two weeks. I do allow myself the luxury of a propane heater between 3am and 6am.


    Dave Angelini said:
    Maybe a forklift for Christmas?

    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,891 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    This does not sound sustainable, be safe!
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    What isn't sustainable?
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #6
    All of your "bad luck" -- The off grid life style is not an inexpensive choice.

    I have a friend that has a few well used fork lifts--He certainly spends a lot of time trying to keep them running--And all of the "weird problems" (hard starting, failed propane vaporizer, mast leaks) and when the ground gets damp, the hard surface lifts just sink to the axles in nothing flat.

    I hope that 2016 brings you better times.
    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,896 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Thanks....hope so to. Problems aren't so much with off grid living. I've always been a camper at heart.

    Thieves....thieves are the problem. They are everywhere.


    BB. said:
    All of your "bad luck" -- The off grid life style is not an inexpensive choice.

    I have a friend that has a few well used fork lifts--He certainly spends a lot of time trying to keep them running--And all of the "weird problems" (hard starting, failed propane vaporizer, mast leaks) and when the ground gets damp, the hard surface lifts just sink to the axles in nothing flat.

    I hope that 2016 brings you better times.
    -Bill

    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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