Six Tips for Configuring Forklift Charging Stations
Configuring forklift charging stations in your warehouse may seem like a simple matter of filling in available space. However, with a bit of planning, they can help make your charging process safer while increasing operator and forklift productivity.
Whether you’re setting up a greenfield facility or looking for ways to improve existing charging areas, here are six strategies that can extend the service life of your chargers, increase lift truck uptime and help your operation adapt to evolving battery requirements.
1. Know Your Battery Technology
Many electric forklifts working in warehouses today still utilize lead-acid batteries, which require long charging times and cool-down periods. A typical cycle is 8 to 12 hours of charging, plus another 8 hours to cool, for every 8 hours of use. As a result, many warehouses feature centralized battery rooms where batteries removed from forklifts are charged. In cases where batteries are unable to last a full shift, operations typically will have a method for swapping depleted batteries for fully charged batteries, and the depleted battery is returned to the battery room to be recharged.
Lithium-ion batteries have gained significant acceptance in material handling applications, changing the lead-acid battery paradigm. Lithium-ion batteries can be charged significantly faster than their lead-acid counterparts — in as little as 1 to 2 hours — and used immediately with no cool-down time.
Unlike lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries can also be opportunity charged during breaks as short as 5-10 minutes, with the battery installed in the forklift. This practice may allow lithium-ion batteries to last through multiple shifts. This practice of opportunity charging also requires flexible and efficient placement of charging stations. Rather than charging in a centralized battery room, charging stations can be spread throughout your operation. However, just because you can install their chargers practically anywhere on a warehouse floor doesn’t mean you should.
To help ensure that planned opportunity charging takes place as it should, it is important to place chargers where they are easily accessible to operators during breaks or shift changes. One option is to install them close to break rooms.
No matter which battery type you’re using, effective charger layouts balance accessibility and safety and should support the day-to-day flow of your operation.
Your design plan should allow enough room to make every station easy for operators to access and use. A battery charger that requires tight maneuvering to reach is likely to be bypassed in favor of more accessible locations with the same type of charger. As a result, certain charging stations could get used more often, which could cause accelerated wear and tear on the cables connecting the charger to the battery.
Charger layouts should provide enough space to park lift trucks of the appropriate type, and far enough apart to give the operator unrestricted access to the charger. If using lithium-ion batteries, which are charged through a port accessible on each lift truck, you’ll also want to place the charger relative to the forklift’s charge port location.
Think about filling up at a gas station. It makes sense to pull up next to a pump that’s on the same side as your gas cap. The same logic applies when charging an electric vehicle, whether it’s a car or a forklift. Although many lead-acid batteries are charged outside of the forklift, those using lithium-ion batteries typically have a lateral charge port that is strategically located on the lift truck. You should be cognizant of these port locations as you choose charging locations.
3. Design Stations to Protect Equipment and Operators
The configuration of individual charging stations can help safeguard your lift trucks, team members and the charging equipment itself.
Start by clearly defining where the truck should be parked and the operator’s path to the charger. Precise layouts will vary depending on lift truck size and battery technology.
Each station should be clearly labeled to indicate the types of equipment it can charge. Steel kick plates, parking curbs, guardrails or other barriers are essential to provide visual and physical protection for the charging unit.
If the charger is offset from the parking area, it’s a good idea to install it at an angle to minimize stress on the cables and connectors. This is essential for operations using lithium-ion batteries and chargers, which use thicker charger cables.
Finally, effective management is essential to protect connectors and keep charger cables off the floor. Awkward angles can cause the copper inside cables to bend and stretch, creating resistance, heat and premature damage. See our recent cable management blog for a detailed discussion of best practices.
Regardless of the forklift direction of travel in your operation, it makes sense to approach charging stations power unit first. The operator generally has greater visibility and control when approaching a charging station in this way, allowing the lift truck to park close to the charger. This can reduce the risk of damage or unexpected charging results due to cable strain.
Approaching a charging station forks first means that longer charge cables will be needed — possibly much longer cables if you’re charging a double- or triple-length pallet truck. This could result in extra cost and an increased potential for damage on the cables and connectors.
5. Maintain Enough Capacity to Ensure Uptime
How many chargers do you need? Is it possible to stagger charging cycles using fewer battery chargers? The answer depends on many variables but one thing is certain: you never want a lift truck that is running low on power to sit idly waiting for a charger to become available.
Our experience with multiple applications shows that it is better to start with a one-to-one ratio of chargers to lift trucks. From this baseline, your forklift OEM can help assess your capabilities, shift patterns, charge management strategies and growth potential. A power study, which involves monitoring, data analytics and expert analysis, can help you determine the ideal number of chargers your fleet requires and help identify optimal charging station locations based on your facility’s workflow patterns.
6. Prioritize Integrated Solutions
The compatibility of components in your charging station and the forklift itself can also offer a number of advantages. A highly integrated system can help increase uptime, reduce maintenance and parts replacement and improve safety during charging and operation. Integrated systems can also produce savings in time, money and energy consumption. Forklift compatibility is also important. During lift truck operation, an integrated power system works with the lift truck’s operating system to reliably monitor state of charge and adjust lift truck behavior to provide ample notice when charging is needed.
Every warehouse presents unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to the design and placement of forklift charging stations. Whether you are upgrading an existing site, setting up a new one or transitioning between battery technologies, it’s worth taking the time to plan your design strategically. Investing the effort up front with a strategic partner that can provide expertise based on an integrated approach using the forklift, battery, charger and charging station can have positive impacts on your efficiency, productivity, safety and uptime for years to come.
To learn more, visit the V-Force® Energy Solutions page on crown.com.