There are battery regeneration products that some manufacturers claim can prolong a forklift battery's life and potentially omit the need to replace batteries. Christine Cranney gets the views of some industry members on these products.

Ron Strawhand, the owner of Denver, Colorado, US-based Battery Technology Solutions, says some battery regeneration or desulfation product sellers claim there is no need to buy new batteries and advocate using their products to extend battery life.

"I have seen many of these products come and go ... I have never seen any actual positive results come from them. In my opinion, they are a gimmick," he says.

Strawhand points out that adding battery regeneration or desulfation products could void a warranty given by a battery manufacturer. "You won't see the results you were looking for and you will be out of the money you spent on the product."

Tim and Ali Jamal from Ontario, Canada-based forklift dealer Jamco say that although they are no experts, they think battery regeneration products that they have seen on the market are only temporary solutions. "If you have a dead or damaged cell, the only fix is to replace the cell ... adding 'desulfation goop', as we like to call it, is only a 'band-aid' solution but you are not solving or fixing the fact that the cell is damaged."

"With our multi-volt chargers, there is an option to allow the user to desulfate a battery, which improves the battery performance - but we do not market it as extending the life of a battery," they add. Jamco is the global exclusive distributor of Eagletronic chargers and related products.

Steve Gartner, general manager of battery rejuvenation specialist BattLife Inc of South Florida, USA, agrees that there is no substitute for proper maintenance to preserve the serviceable life of batteries.

"Damage to batteries stemming from abuse or lack of basic ... maintenance very often cannot be undone. Cells or batteries may need to be replaced.

"That said, our magnetic-resonance, high-frequency pulse technology and treatments can and do rest the clock on batteries and cells that suffer from excessive crystallisation of their sulfates."

Gartner explains that with the processes BattLife uses, "there's no magic" happening, but battery rejuvenation can add a year to "a battery that is on its way to the dump" or triple the service life of a well-cared-for battery that had 75% or more efficiency to begin with.

"When the same technology is applied to new batteries or batteries that have a starting efficiency of 75% or better, we call this augmentation."

He claims BattLife treatments are a "win-win" solution as they can extend warranties up to two years, optimise battery performance by increasing power and run time, and charging faster while expending less energy.

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