ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
FORM NO. 56043089 - AquaRide
™
-
51
BATTERY MAINTENANCE
Proper maintenance of electric vehicle batteries can greatly extend their life. Well-maintained batteries may last up to 3 years, but failure after 1
year is common if maintenance has been poor.
There are 3 simple rules for good battery maintenance:
•
Maintain Proper Electrolyte Level (Weekly)
- Use distilled water in batteries whenever possible. If batteries are discharged, add just enough
water to cover the plates in each cell. If batteries are fully charged,
fi
ll each cell to the bottom of the
fi
ller tube.
Do not over-
fi
ll the batteries!
Do not add acid to batteries!
•
Keep the Batteries Charged (Weekly)
- Batteries should be charged each time that a machine is used for more than 1 hour. Machine
operators should open the battery compartment cover for charging, to avoid a concentrated build-up of hydrogen gas. Operators should follow
the instructions provided with their speci
fi
c battery charger, to determine how long the batteries should be charged. Even when a machine is
stored, the batteries should be charged once a month to prevent the batteries from “sulfating”. Almost all battery caps are vented, so there’s
no need to loosen or remove them for charging.
•
Keep the Batteries Clean (Monthly)
- Use a damp cloth to wipe dirt from the top of the batteries. Battery terminals must be clean and tight.
If the tops of the batteries are wet after charging, the batteries have probably been over-
fi
lled or over-charged. Note: If there is acid on the
batteries, wash the tops of the batteries with a solution of baking soda and water (2) tablespoons of baking soda to 1 quart of water.
BATTERY TESTING
A battery problem is usually recognized by the machine operator, as a decrease in the machine’s running time. This condition is usually caused by
one or more “dead cells” in the battery system that is, one or more cells that is putting out less voltage than the other cells.
Note:
Always charge batteries before testing.
There are 2 ways to
fi
nd a dead cell:
•
Use a hydrometer to check the speci
fi
c gravity (or “state of charge”) of the
fl
uid in each cell. A dead cell is one that reads 50 points (or more)
lower than the other cells.
•
Use a volt meter to check the voltage of each battery with the scrub and drive motors running. The battery with the dead cell will read 1 or 2
volts lower than the other batteries in the system.
If the batteries in the machine are more than 1 year old, it’s usually best to replace the whole set, rather than replacing just one battery.
The chart below shows the approximate “percent charged” of an electric vehicle battery at various speci
fi
c gravity values, corrected to 80°F
(26.7°C).
APPROXIMATE STATE OF CHARGE
1.265
Initial
Charged
Full
Charge
100%
1.265
75%
1.225
50%
1.190
25%
1.155
Discharged
1.120
Summary of Contents for 56314009
Page 1: ...5 03 revised 10 09 Form Number 56043089 AquaRide SERVICE MANUAL Advance MODEL 56314009...
Page 7: ...FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide 5 SPECIFICATIONS...
Page 25: ...WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide 23 A FRONT D F G E L J K I H N O Q P M R FIGURE 6...
Page 46: ...44 FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide RECOVERY SYSTEM FIGURE 3...
Page 49: ...RECOVERY SYSTEM FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide 47 FIGURE 5 FIGURE 6...
Page 55: ...ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide 53 FIGURE 4 FIGURE 3...
Page 72: ...70 FORM NO 56043089 AquaRide ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Drive Motor Breakdown...
Page 79: ......