Commercial vehicle battery life can be boosted by dispensing with traditional sealed batteries and choosing high-performance hybrids.
That's the advice from Banner, which is advising operators that typical CV alternator charge voltages are too low to recharge certain types of battery sufficiently.
Batteries are drained by a combination of vibration and cyclic wear and tear during short haul stop-start driving, as well as frequent tail lift operation or refrigeration. On long journeys, the main reasons are lengthy driver sleepovers involving the use of TV, kettle and other power consumers with no charge from the alternator. The battery is often discharged to the extent that full recharge cannot be achieved during the next drive cycle.
A deeply discharged calcium/calcium (or sealed) battery can require a charge of 16 volts to overcome the chemical reactions caused by discharge, but most vehicle electrical systems can't deliver this.
Instead, urges Banner, CV and bus fleet operators should choose hybrid batteries -- such as Banner's Buffalo super duty heavy range -- which still have minimal water loss characteristics, but which will be recharged with a standard alternator voltage of 13.8V/27.6V or 14.4V/28.8V.
These are constructed using thick low-antimony positive plates, calcium negative plates and fibreglass matting to stabilise plate material during cyclic use. The plates are also bottom anchored to resist vibration.
