JLG scissor lift battery/charge

[wildcard97]

I have a 95 JLG CM 1732. Having an issue with it not charging the batteries. The machine came from rb auction and had issues that were remedied and all was fine. It was missing one of 4 batteries and replaced. Been fine for 3 years now. Have no idea of age of the other 3 batteries. I'm thinking those are toast. Might be good idea to start with 4 new cells. The charger in it is kind of questionable. It doesn't appear like the charger in the manual, and may be boiling off the batteries. Has anyone heard of upgrading the chargers in these to a stage type with desulfator.

 

[tool_king]

It always a good idea to replace all batteries as set. Yes the charger could be over charging the batteries.

 

[Delmer]

The charger can only see the total voltage, with different age batteries, they won't be all even and somebody will get cooked eventually. Easy enough to see what the voltage is in total and across each battery when it's in "float", that is it's all charged up and the batteries should be equal voltage. The one on there will have different stages most likely, easy enough to find out that info. It's fairly easy to find a more advanced 24V if you have 4x 6V batteries. If you have 4x 12V all in series, then it will be a little harder to find a 48V charger. A lower capacity charger will work fine in MOST cases, unless you're going up and down all shift, or can't leave it plugged in.

Have you kept up the water level?

 

[wildcard97]

The charger can only see the total voltage, with different age batteries, they won't be all even and somebody will get cooked eventually. Easy enough to see what the voltage is in total and across each battery when it's in "float", that is it's all charged up and the batteries should be equal voltage. The one on there will have different stages most likely, easy enough to find out that info. It's fairly easy to find a more advanced 24V if you have 4x 6V batteries. If you have 4x 12V all in series, then it will be a little harder to find a 48V charger. A lower capacity charger will work fine in MOST cases, unless you're going up and down all shift, or can't leave it plugged in.

Have you kept up the water level?

I do and I checked that at first sign of trouble. It has 3 olde T105, and my newer Duracell "equivalent". Looking at replacing all to start with. And I'm going to pull that charger to see exactly what is in there. Even under all the Richie Bro. paint it looks nothing like what is in the manual. Probably need to start from scratch and prove out the system.

 

[wildcard97]

Here's what I know today. The charger is a Quick Charge Corp. May 11, 24v/25A. Said to fit Skyjack models using 128537 chargers. It is model OBAE 24v/25a. Output 24v, float 27.1 (?). Batteries spear to be boiled off. All oozing, and 13 volts across string. I'd say I have multiple issues. I assumed way too much after buying this thing.

 

[Delmer]

13V is a little high, I assume that's resting with the charger off? that will happen if the acid is concentrated from low water. Fill the water, use it normally, let it charge overnight, unplug charger and see what each battery has for voltage, if they're all roughly equal, then you should be able to get some life out of them yet. Depends entirely if this is something you use once a week to lift a couple times, or if you use it 40 hours a week.

27.1V float is fine if that's what you have with the charger plugged in after a full charge. It will take 28-29V for the bulk charge, and it might not get there if it's not taking amps fast enough, or there's too much resistance somewhere in the connections.

I'm not sure what to think of desulphators, I've used them, haven't done any controlled testing to tell if they work. Can't hurt? A smaller charger will charge just fine if you give it time. 24V should be easy to find. If you don't need full capacity, using two 12v marine starting batteries will work fine and be cheaper to replace even if it's a little more often. You won't go off hard surfaces, but you should be fine for typical scissor lift work. Actually the 25A should work fine with marine batteries also, I wonder if the original charger was higher amperage than 25A? or maybe that's all they could get out of a 115V outlet in those days before inverter chargers?

 

[wildcard97]

13V is a little high, I assume that's resting with the charger off? that will happen if the acid is concentrated from low water. Fill the water, use it normally, let it charge overnight, unplug charger and see what each battery has for voltage, if they're all roughly equal, then you should be able to get some life out of them yet. Depends entirely if this is something you use once a week to lift a couple times, or if you use it 40 hours a week.

27.1V float is fine if that's what you have with the charger plugged in after a full charge. It will take 28-29V for the bulk charge, and it might not get there if it's not taking amps fast enough, or there's too much resistance somewhere in the connections.

I'm not sure what to think of desulphators, I've used them, haven't done any controlled testing to tell if they work. Can't hurt? A smaller charger will charge just fine if you give it time. 24V should be easy to find. If you don't need full capacity, using two 12v marine starting batteries will work fine and be cheaper to replace even if it's a little more often. You won't go off hard surfaces, but you should be fine for typical scissor lift work. Actually the 25A should work fine with marine batteries also, I wonder if the original charger was higher amperage than 25A? or maybe that's all they could get out of a 115V outlet in those days before inverter chargers?

 

[wildcard97]

It doesn't even show anything on the ammeter battery condition. I use this several times a week for full days. Probably more coming up to finish the inside of my shop building. It sure appears to be cooking the batteries. Judging from where this came from, it might be smart to re make it whole with cells and a charger that I know the condition of.
I should have done all this when I first had it. I had to replace the junk controller, and after that outlay it worked, so I went with it. The Duracell I put in it is 4 years old now and the 3 Trojans it had I have no idea. Just think I need to match a three stage charger of known condition with batteries of known condition, and that way I know what I have for sure.

 

[Delmer]

Nothing wrong with going all new. especially if you're using it for full days, the two 12v might get by, or might not. They'll last longest if you discharge 50% and no more (well, last longest if you never use them, but 50% will get the most use out of them)

The amp meter on a charger is fairly meaningless even if it did move. Check the voltage when charging. On the other hand if the amp meter WORKS, like if you put a heavy load across the batteries while charging, like a battery tester, and the amp meter goes to full amps then, but the batteries won't take much charge at all even when they've been used all day, then you know they're pretty well gone.

If they're sulphated up, then the voltage will go up to 14V but they won't be taking a charge, and won't have much capacity. But the charger could be functioning fine.

 

[Txhayseed]

Have you done the simplest most reliable deep cycle battery test and test each cell in each battery with a hydrometer ?? Specific gravity after a charge cycle tells the story. There is a reason battery manufacturers specifically ask for the specific gravity of each cell when your asking for warranty. Test each cell then get your base line reading see if all the cells in fact show a full charge via the specific gravity. If they do then run the machine for half your work cycle then re test. See what the difference is between cells. Your best cell will be as good as your worst if the batteries where not replaced as a set and have had some substantial run time. Using a volt meter can tell you the voltage sure and let you monitor charging voltage but after that you don't have any to monitor what's actually going on since you have no way of knowing what the draw is.. Only way to really test a pack is to use a run time tester. They let you load all 4 batteries and set the load at a set amp draw and give you a total run time based on that. We have switched exclusively to eagle chargers in our fleet of scissor lifts company wide. Probably got eagles in about 200 lifts right now and have had great luck. Only time we use a delta q is for the new scissors that have logic requirements and that's about it. Eagles are reparable as well. All the new charges are completely poted and not serviceable. In my opinion the eagle is the way to go. We have had lots of batteries changed out and warranty rejected and vice versa with charges over the years from " mechanics "

 

[willie59]

Here's what I know today. The charger is a Quick Charge Corp. May 11, 24v/25A. Said to fit Skyjack models using 128537 chargers. It is model OBAE 24v/25a. Output 24v, float 27.1 (?). Batteries spear to be boiled off. All oozing, and 13 volts across string. I'd say I have multiple issues. I assumed way too much after buying this thing.

Just curious, where are you getting 13V, those are supposed to be 6V batteries, are you measuring across two batteries in series? I'll second what Txhayseed stated, get a battery hydrometer, that will tell you the condition of each battery cell and will quickly identify a faulty cell. Faulty battery cells will flip out automatic chargers.

 

[skata]

Search 'jlg charger' on ebay, and see if you could maybe fit one of those on your machine.