Excellent battery PDF. Thanks for that.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. The lift is working, the old batteries were not nearly as heavy as I thought in comparison to the new ones. There is no weight issue. A charger for gel cells is on the way. Just some rewiring needs to be done to replace some parts used during proof of concept.

Update 23.7: All new cabling, pinned the Anderson connector to the Exide charger, charged the batteries. And then we realize our error: There is a 4 ton industrial machine under the shelf we want to offload and it is so far forward, the feet for the lift can't get under the shelf. It was pretty much out of view because of pallets in front of it. Once those pallets were move, the "Oh" moment crystallized. And the loaded shelf was built around it, so the only way to take it out is to cut it up. The shelf can't be taken apart because there are massive objects on it which we wanted to move with the materials lift. So...next project...taking apart a 4 ton iron brick built in 1960.

read this
http://web dot mit dot edu/evt/summary_battery_specifications dot pdf
replace the dot with a. and eliminate the spaces on either side of the.

read this
http://web dot mit dot edu/evt/summary_battery_specifications dot pdf
replace the dot with a. and eliminate the spaces on either side of the.

You don't seem to understand the law surrounding the use of any material handling machine no matter how old. Wether used on private property or not you cannot use the machine without the correct ballast on the machine to enable it to lift wether you are lifting to capacity or not. It is a legal requirement that the machine is inspected by a competent person at leat once every 12 months. On an electric powered machine the battery makes up a large part of the ballast. As for the I won't need it re rating and a new rating plate yes you will pal. You are the type of person who really frightens me when it comes to lifting machines you think you can do anything you want with no consequences. No the machine might not tip forwards but it might and it could tip sideways. I like the way you came on here asking for advice and the because the advice was not what you wanted to hear completely ignored it. I will say it again without re rating or the correct blast for the counterweight this machine CANNOT be used.As for the company went out of briskness years ago no they didn't they were bought out by Linde and info you need you can get from them

As I said, the design is such that it cannot tip forward, the use is very limited, not close to the capacity and loads are not being driven around elevated. I won't need any new plates. It's on private property in personal use and the company of manufacture went out of business in the 90's. I will look carefully at the balance issue and the condition of the area where it is operating. I have a crane scale so that I can weigh the old pack. If necessary I will add some of the old cells for stability.

Actually, more concerning is the length of time it has stood idle and the possibility of a breakdown or malfunction. That worries me more than the battery weight.

The hazard will be that the rated capacity of the truck will have changed due to a lighter weight battery pack. Don't just think that because you are not lifting the maximum load that the truck says it can lift you'll be ok. You will need to apply for a new capacity plate from the manufacturer before you can legally use the truck and my guess here is they will refuse to supply it as you are changing the truck from standard. Please do not use it or allow anybody else to use the machine with anything other than a standard weight battery as any accident you have with it will be solely down to yourself

Hi, thank you for your input. I will be able to examine the lift next week and see what the hazard could be with lighter batteries. Conditions and use (it's at a former artist's workshop) are unlike in a warehouse. Unlikely to be hazardous because there's no room to make sharp turns, no place to drive with elevated loads. There is a form with wheels in front that stays on the ground, so tipping forward is highly unlikely. Run times will be very short, under an hour. The label on the machine reads "Capacity 5h:174ah". My batteries are 24v 180ah. The datasheet reads "180Ah C5/200 Ah 20 C." I'm guessing that means it's good.

There is no reason it would not work electrically, however please remember that weight of battery is critical in this application as is directly related to truck capacity and stability!!! In most applications batteries form part of counterweight and if the batteries are lighter than specified then the truck may tipped under load!
Some trucks have few versions of batteries, depend of usage pattern, however smaller batteries are always compensated with extra weight's fitted.
Regards battery capacity and current: if it's for occasional use you should be OK however please check max current consumed by truck as too small batteries may not be able to supply such current and you'll simply destroy them by frequent overloading.