4 Facility Checks to Make Before Renting an Electric Forklift
It’s time to rent a forklift. You’ve decided to go with an electric. Great choice! They’re efficient, clean, and work hard.
Before the rental arrives at your facility though, it’s smart to check a few things out. Here’s four checks to make before you rent.
Verify Your Voltage
Electric forklift rentals come with a battery charger, either built into the forklift itself, or as a separate charging station. The forklift’s battery charger must have the correct voltage input.
First up? Check your facility’s voltage.
If the voltage output your facility has is different, it could damage the charger...or your facility!
Standard voltage for electrics is 3-phase 240/480V. Most facilities do have access to this voltage. Still, best to make sure.
Will You Need to Water?
In general, electric forklifts come with either lead-acid batteries or lithium-ion batteries. It varies by brand & by model.
Lead-acid batteries use water to regulate their heat. This water will need to stay topped up.
We recommend checking lead-acid batteries – and adding water when low – following each battery charge. Your Cromer rep will show you the correct watering procedure for your rental.
If you haven’t used lead-acid electrics before, don’t leave them in cold temperatures for very long. The water in the battery could freeze, causing damage.
(Lithium batteries don’t need watering.)
Check Your Space for Charging Space
IC forklifts need a space to refuel. Electric forklifts need a space to recharge.
It’s important to find a charging space that allows two things:
- Access to power
- Safe clearance for equipment and foot traffic
Before the rental arrives, check around the facility for a good space. Make sure it’s not in the way of any other forklift paths or pedestrian walkways.
The space amount varies by forklift. Your Cromer rep will tell you what you’ll need. In general, we recommend 3’ of clear space around a battery charger.
(Charging space can be outside, as long as you have overhead coverage.)
OSHA requires specific requirements for lead-acid electric forklifts when it comes to charging space. These specify that the charging space must have good ventilation, is not near any corrosive chemicals, and isn’t anywhere close to smoking or flammable items. (See OSHA 1910.178 for more details.)
For lithium electrics, just make sure the charging space isn’t near water flow. They don’t offgas, so extra ventilation’s not necessary.
Are Your Operators Ready?
This might seem obvious, but if you want to rent electric forklifts, make sure you have operators who know how to use electric forklifts!
Although similar, IC and electric forklifts sometimes have different operational characteristics.
For example, electric units tend to have faster acceleration. They can brake quicker too, thanks to different hydraulics than an IC unit.
If the operator isn’t familiar with differences like these, they’ll need some time to familiarize themselves.
To give them that time, introduce your operators to the rental prior to running their next full shift. We recommend 30 minutes to 1 hour. (Our on-site forklift training addresses electrics too.)
Bonus Tip – Mind the Emergency Stop Button
Most electric forklifts come with an Emergency Stop/Battery Shut-Off button. It’s usually near the controls. Here’s a photo showing where it is on a Doosan.
Watch out for this button! It will immediately shut the forklift down...and it won’t turn back on until pressed again.
If your rental electric won’t turn on, check the Emergency Stop button. Odds are someone bumped it.
Checks Completed? Time to Rent!
That’s it! That should cover what you need to know before renting an electric forklift.
The Cromer Rentals team will address all four of these checks, and cover any questions you may have.
Now’s a good time to rent electric forklifts. Especially with Summer coming up.
Until next month!
-The Cromer Team
Cromer Material Handling