Through years of product development and customer evaluation, it has been proven that if used properly, 12V lead-acid battery testing, charging and maintenance products utilizing a scientifically validated desulfation technology can reduce a fleet’s annual battery consumption by 70 percent or more.
The teams responsible for keeping fleets moving and on schedule – maintenance managers and technicians – understand the benefits of a battery maintenance program (BMP) but often have to sell management on the return on investment in purchasing and deploying equipment to test, recover and maintain 12V batteries.
LEAD-ACID BATTERIES
Operational problems and failure have plagued lead-acid batteries since their invention more than 100 years ago. Through the years, science has improved materials, manufacturing methods and overall performance.
However, the demand placed on lead-acid batteries continues to grow with a plethora of onboard gadgets drawing down on the power source, sapping batteries like a parasitic vampire.
The lifespan of today’s lead-acid batteries typically range from as little six months to 48 months, though only 30 percent survive the entire four years.
BMP TOOLBOX
A vetted BMP program, however, can dramatically change battery service and operation life, automatically keeping batteries at peak capacity, extending life cycles up to five times, eliminating jump starts and reducing the manpower needed for battery maintenance.
The BMP toolbox involves a series of high-tech smart tools, including analytical testers, battery recovery chargers, battery stock maintainers and the installation of permanent battery desulfators.
Basically, battery desulfators are devices that clean a battery’s internal plates to remove lead sulfate. Lead sulfate – created when a lead-acid battery is deprived of a full charge – greatly reduces the capacity of a charge on a battery. By restoring the lead sulfate back into the acid solution, battery life can be extended.
To properly equip a small to mid-size fleet maintenance shop, management would need to acquire a battery recovery charger, analytical tester, battery stock maintainer and five solar maintainer desulfators for installation on vehicles.
This is a one-time budget item that will pay for itself quickly in the number of batteries recovered and maintained at peak operational capacities for thousands of more miles of use.
CALCULATIONS
To calculate potential savings from a BMP, calculate how much money you spend on new lead-acid batteries each year. Take that number and multiply by 0.7 percent. The answer is how much money you would save each year on battery purchases alone.
Other benefits from an effective BMP include manpower savings, the increase of battery efficiency and power, the reduction of vehicle downtime, prolonged alternator and starter life and hazardous waste savings since fewer batteries will need to be disposed of properly.
As one example, PulseTech Products crafted a maintenance plan for the Kentucky Army National Guard (KYARNG) that met their particular blend of battery service and maintenance equipment, battery inventory and vehicle usage for its more than 3,500 vehicles. Since the KYARNG implemented the BMP, it has experienced a 90-percent reduction in battery year-to-year replacements and gained one man-year of productivity due to the reductions in time spent replacing and maintaining batteries.
BMP is not a case of one procedure or set of products fitting all, but utilizing certain products based on types of equipment, functionality, size of operation and work schedule demands. Recommended is a pre-purchase audit to determine what service equipment will be required to efficiently and cost-effectively do the job.
Rick Miller is the commercial sales manager at PulseTech Products Corp. (www.pulsetech.net), a Texas-based company that provides a full line of products and battery related maintenance technologies to maximize battery performance while minimizing battery-related expenses. He focuses on educating commercial and government fleet managers on recovering lead-acid batteries and extending battery life through the company’s Battery Management System.
