Going back to what bbforks was saying about cameras and the effects of knowing the employees are being watched. Some years ago i installed a shockwatch system on a unit and it had the lil keypad so the operator could enter their code. Just so happened on this paticular brand of shock watch there was a little circle that looked like a camera lens. After installing it i had to show all the operators how to use the system. Just joking with them i said the lil circle was a snapshot camera and it stored the picture of who was driving when the watch was tripped. Needless to say the operations manager never had to reset the system once.

Referring to what edward posted.........."for the meatballs that can not pay attention to what they are doing, a broom, rather than a forklift, for them to drive."
Now edward we can't have them tearing up a spanking new multi tasker Libman by using it other than a tapeball bat or hockey stick during lunch. Besides its the "meatballs" that keep our service trucks rolling. Personally my wallet loves the spaghetti that goes along with them.

We got a problem with some of our older trucks boiling due to being put on a too high amperage, from what we can digest anyway. I bleive we need to get a proper class in battery maintenance at any rate. we have sever chargers for 48 volts, including one 150A, and wehn we put a speciffic series of Sichelsmidts on that one, they always seem to boil over, even if we only top up the water after charging (first thing of the day, though not always every day for all trucks..) our latest M970's have had their batteries deteriorate far sooner, compared to our older M9xx's our oldest which is a 03 make, is just now starting to show seriious battery issues, after about 6000hrs, compared to about 2.5k on the newer 06/07 970's


We got a lot of new workers that drive the things as they were stolen, and I fear the fragile crap BT270's we have now, will not outlive our sichelsmidts.

Making one person responsible for battery maintenance & installing a camera system works wonders. Many of my customers have gone to this system & have seen impressive results.

I always give the cap of each cell's fill port a little tap on top before filling as the shut of valves / **** inside can jam as the battery & filling system attached to it starts to get older.

They have operators like that over here too !! No matter what you tell them they still trash the trucks.huge damage expense's sometimes make their bosses take notice LOL

I swear the operators at my one customer think that forklifts are actually bumpercars or they are in the local fair demolition derby,from bent forks and carriages to counterweights hanging by one thread...a broom wouldnt be good enough for them,thinking more like a toothbrush and scrub the floors with it...

for the floor, you might try any "high bituminous" paint. the higher the bituminous the better.
for the meatballs that can not pay attention to what they are doing, a broom, rather than a forklift, for them to drive.

if you have fill systems on the batteries then overfilling them should not be possible and even if you charge them they shouldnt spill during charging.
You may want to have the battery company that installed the fill systems to come out and check the caps, hoses and connections and make sure they are not leaking. Most fill systems i know of do need to be checked periodically. Floats in the caps can stick not shutting off the flow when filling and can overfill cells. Things such as this may be what you are experiencing.

Sounds like the cure is a Louisville Slugger - just kidding.
If you have battery fill system on all your batteries - I would think that over filling would be difficult. Often "boiling" over is caused by too large (amp capacity) of a charger being connected to the battery or incorrect volt charger being used (e.g.. 48 volt charger - 36 v battery) - either situation will cause excessive gassing will take place and force the electrolyte out. I've seen situations where the tabs on charger and or battery connector half have been broken out & allow a different voltage charger to be hooked up.
Just a thought or two from here at least 700 miles from your problem but only milliseconds via the internet.

We have battery fill systems with the blinkie and BID module. Our chargers are "smart" chargers that communicate with the BID module on the battery and adjusts the rate of charge accordingly so the batteries can be opportunity charged if need be. The trucks are cycled out on the chargers during the night (I have twice as many trucks as chargers) by our one overnight guy. I teach the operators to check for 100% charge and check the blinkie at the start of their shift. If blinkie is out take the truck to the watering station and fill the battery. At the watering station is a stack of forms that say DO NO CHARGE UNTIL AT OR BELOW 35% with a place for the date that they can put on the truck for the overnight guy. The problems we are having is the overnight guy doesn't pay attention or the operator doesn't put this form on the truck or a temp just doesn't give a crap. Meanwhile the floors look like crap right outside the main office where the chargers are at which is bad when we have big wig tours.

Have you considered a battery fill system for each battery? BFS makes a nice one and it provides a visual indicator as to when it is time to refill.

Hi Joe
i'm not sure if theres much of anything that can withstand exposure to battery acid for any amount of time without it eating it up.
You can try using an extreme duty epoxy paint, and maybe even put sealer over that.
As for the concrete? once the acid soaks into the floor the acid will start etching it out and as deep as it soaks will eventually deteriorate. The best defense against acid (battery) spills is to have some neutralizing solution handy and put it on the area immediatly when discovered. They do make spill kits designed for this i do believe, just shop around at places like grainger or mcmaster-carr.

looks like you need to have a battery maintenance class with your operators on how to check, fill and charge a battery.
One of the first rules to teach them is NEVER fill before charging EXCEPT ONLY IF the cell plates are dry.
AND THEN ONLY put enough water to cover the plates.
Then you can charge the battery and IF it needs water after charging THEN they can fill the cells to the correct level.


good luck!