Engaged in forklift battery maintenance industry for many years, because of work reasons, daily xiaobian will often be asked by people around forklift battery maintenance related questions. One of the most controversial issues is: forklift battery in the end when to add water, some say to add before the battery charging, some say in the middle of the charging, also say after the battery charging completed. Here is a unified answer to this question.

Influence of charging on battery level:

1. The liquid level in the battery changes before and after charging the battery, which is also an important basis for us to regulate the time of adding water to the battery. Generally speaking, the level in the battery will be 1 to 2 cm higher when the battery is first fully charged than after deep discharge. Therefore, we should avoid adding too much water before charging the battery (only distilled water or deionized water added in daily maintenance here), resulting in the electrolyte overflow of the battery during charging sulfuric acid solution loss. That's why we say it's best to add water after the battery has been charged.

2. At the end of the lead-acid battery charging process, the temperature of the electrolyte rises and the flow speeds up, and there will even be a slight boiling phenomenon. As we know, battery electrolyte is sulfuric acid solution, directly add distilled water to sulfuric acid solution, there will be liquid stratification phenomenon, acid and distilled water mixing needs a longer time. The use of electrolyte flow and slight boiling at the end of battery charging can help the electrolyte mix with newly injected distilled water, which is the theoretical basis for adding water to battery charging.

3, in the lead acid battery water shortage is serious, the battery plate has a large area of exposed in the air, then the charging process will accelerate the sulfate of exposed plate. This will lead to even if water is added later for maintenance, there will be part of the plate because sulfate does not participate in the charge and discharge reaction, leading to the reduction of battery capacity. This is the rationale for adding water to batteries before charging them.

When is the best time to add water to the forklift battery?

 1. In the case of timely battery water maintenance, we generally only require water maintenance operations after the battery is charged. In this way, the distilled water added each time is not much, and the influence of not mixing fully with the electrolyte in time is not much.

2. When the battery has not added water for a long time, the battery level has dropped below the battery lead grid. It is best to add some water before charging so that the electrolyte has not crossed the lead grid. After charging, fill up the liquid level. If necessary, balance charging can be carried out after replenishing water to repair part of the plate sulfate caused by water shortage.

3, in the end of battery charging water maintenance can be considered to be the most scientific way of maintenance. But in the actual operation, there are certain security risks, and the water operation needs to be carried out in two times, which will take a lot of time, so this method is generally not adopted.

Of course, for battery water maintenance, now we also have a better solution, such as our main battery water alarm, battery water heater, battery automatic water system. All are special tools for battery maintenance developed by Lianhong Energy according to the market forklift battery pain points.

Learn more about battery maintenance