Industrial Battery & Electric Equipment Service
We service industrial battery systems and electric material-handling equipment from the battery connector through the controls, motors and hydraulics.
Poor Run Time Does Not Automatically Mean You Need a New Battery
An electric forklift that will not make it through the shift may have a weak battery.
It may also have a charger problem, bad connection, damaged cable, controller fault, motor issue, or something on the machine drawing more power than it should.
You already know the equipment is not performing correctly.
Mondak's job is to determine why.
Industrial Battery & Electric Equipment Services
Mondak can help with:
- Industrial battery testing
- Battery reconditioning
- Battery cleaning and service
- Cable and connector repair
- Charger diagnostics
- Charging-system problems
- Electric forklift diagnostics
- Controllers and contactors
- Drive motors
- Hydraulic pump motors
- Wiring and electrical repair
- Hydraulic systems
- Travel and lift-control problems
Industrial Battery Reconditioning
A battery that has lost capacity does not automatically have to be replaced.
Mondak provides industrial battery reconditioning for applicable motive-power batteries used in forklifts and material-handling equipment.
Depending on battery condition, reconditioning can include:
- Battery inspection
- Cleaning and corrosion removal
- Cable and connector inspection
- Cell evaluation
- Specific-gravity checks on applicable batteries
- Charging and controlled reconditioning
- Equalization where appropriate
- Capacity evaluation
- Connection and cable repair
- Final performance testing
Some batteries can be brought back. Some are finished. Testing helps tell the difference.
Battery Reconditioning Is Not Battery Guessing
Poor run time can come from more than one place.
Possible causes include:
- Sulfation
- Weak cells
- Charging history
- Poor connections
- Damaged cables
- Charger problems
- Excessive electrical load
- Motor problems
- Equipment faults
- A battery that has reached the end of its service life
Reconditioning the battery without correcting a charger or machine problem can put you right back in the same situation.
We look at the battery and the equipment together.
Battery, Charger or Machine?
That is often the real question.
A machine with short run time, slow travel or weak hydraulics can have a problem on either side of the battery connector.
We can evaluate:
- Battery voltage
- Voltage under load
- Battery condition
- Cables and connections
- Connectors
- Corrosion
- Charger operation
- Charging connections
- Contactors
- Fuses
- Main power circuits
- Controllers
- Motors
- Hydraulic pump motors
- Wiring and controls
Before replacing an expensive industrial battery, it makes sense to know whether the battery is actually the problem.
Lead-Acid Industrial Batteries
Traditional flooded lead-acid batteries are still common in forklifts and warehouse equipment.
We can work with problems involving:
- Reduced capacity
- Short run time
- Uneven cell performance
- Corrosion
- Damaged cables
- Burned or loose connectors
- Poor charging
- Excessive voltage drop
- Heat at connections
Proper battery condition, connections and charging all affect how the equipment performs.
Modern Battery Systems
Electric material-handling equipment may also use:
- Sealed lead-acid systems
- TPPL battery technology
- Lithium-ion systems
Modern battery systems can add electronic monitoring, communication and charger integration.
That means a battery-related fault may actually involve:
- Battery management electronics
- Charger communication
- Wiring
- Connectors
- Sensors
- Machine controls
Modern battery problems can become electronic diagnostic problems too.
Charger Diagnostics
A battery is only as useful as the charging system supporting it.
Mondak can troubleshoot problems such as:
- Charger will not start
- Battery will not fully charge
- Charger fault codes
- Intermittent charging
- Damaged plugs and connectors
- Power-supply problems
- Excessive heat
- Wiring problems
- Incorrect charging behavior
A battery that repeatedly comes off the charger without enough capacity may not automatically be a failed battery.
The charger needs to be part of the diagnosis.
Electric Forklift Travel Problems
If the battery checks out but the machine still will not travel correctly, we move farther into the equipment.
Depending on the machine, that may involve:
- Drive motors
- Motor controllers
- Contactors
- Direction controls
- Accelerator inputs
- Brake switches
- Speed sensors
- Wiring
- CAN communication
- Safety interlocks
- Power and ground circuits
A forklift can have a fully charged battery and still refuse to move.
The problem may be somewhere in the control system between the operator and the drive motor.
Electric Hydraulic Systems
Electric forklifts still depend heavily on hydraulics.
Instead of an engine driving the hydraulic pump, an electric motor supplies the power.
Mondak can troubleshoot:
- Hydraulic pump motors
- Hydraulic pumps
- Motor controls
- Contactors
- Control valves
- Proportional valves
- Lift cylinders
- Tilt cylinders
- Hoses and fittings
- Sensors and switches
- Electrical commands
A machine that travels normally but lifts slowly gives us different information than one where both travel and lift performance are weak.
Those differences help us determine where to test next.
Controllers, Contactors & Wiring
Modern electric forklifts can use multiple electronic systems to manage:
- Travel
- Hydraulics
- Steering
- Braking
- Battery information
- Operator controls
- Safety interlocks
We troubleshoot problems involving:
- Controllers
- Contactors
- Sensors
- Switches
- Wiring harnesses
- Connectors
- Power and grounds
- Communication circuits
- Fault codes
The controller may report the fault.
The wiring still has to prove whether the controller is right.
High-Current Connections Matter
Industrial electric equipment moves a lot of current.
A loose, corroded or damaged connection can cause:
- Voltage drop
- Heat
- Reduced performance
- Burned connectors
- Charging problems
- Intermittent operation
- Controller faults
Sometimes what looks like an expensive battery or controller problem is a connection problem.
That is why the basics still matter.
Equipment We Work On
Battery and electric-equipment service applies to equipment such as:
- Electric sit-down forklifts
- Stand-up forklifts
- Reach trucks
- Order pickers
- Pallet trucks
- Warehouse equipment
- Battery-powered industrial equipment
Common equipment brands include:
- Hyster
- Yale
- Toyota
- Mitsubishi
- CAT
- Crown
- Hyundai
- Kalmar
- Combilift
- Nissan / UniCarriers and more
Older Electric Equipment Still Has Value
Older electric forklifts can stay productive for a long time.
Eventually the challenge may become an obsolete controller, old charger, damaged wiring or component that is no longer readily available.
Depending on the problem, Mondak can look at options such as:
- Repairing wiring
- Repairing cables and connectors
- Cross-referencing components
- Repairing hydraulic systems
- Adapting connections
- Machining or fabricating needed parts
- Updating components where practical
The machine does not automatically become obsolete because one component did.
Know What Needs Fixing Before You Replace It
Maybe the battery will not make it through the shift.
Maybe the charger keeps faulting.
Maybe the forklift powers up but will not travel.
Maybe the hydraulics are weak even though the battery appears charged.
You do not have to decide whether the problem is the battery, charger, controller, motor or hydraulic system before calling.
Give us the equipment manufacturer, model, battery information and what it is doing. We'll start there.