Charger types
- Conventional chargers. Full 8-hour charge plus cool-down. Simple, reliable, and the standard for single-shift lead-acid fleets.
- Opportunity chargers. Designed for partial charging during breaks. Useful for multi-shift lead-acid operations, but they must be specified for it — opportunity charging on a conventional charger shortens battery life.
- Fast chargers. High-rate charging for demanding duty cycles. Require batteries built to take it and careful thermal management.
- Lithium chargers. Lithium-ion batteries need chargers with the correct charge profile and communication. Never charge a lithium battery on a lead-acid charger.
Matching a charger to a battery
Three things have to line up:
- Voltage — the charger output must equal the battery voltage (24V charger for a 24V battery, and so on).
- Charge rate — sized to the battery's amp-hour capacity and your available charge window.
- Chemistry profile — lead-acid and lithium-ion need different charge curves.
The wrong charger kills good batteries. Get the match checked.
Talk to a Battery SpecialistSigns your charger is the problem
- Batteries never reach full charge, or take far longer than they used to.
- Batteries run hot during charging.
- The charger throws fault codes or shuts off early.
- One battery charges fine on a different charger.
If any of that sounds familiar, say so in the quote form — a charger replacement is often far cheaper than the batteries it has been ruining.