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Minimising maintenance on batteries
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March 2008
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The £800m refurbishment of St Pancras and the opening of the new Eurostar terminal benefits from a new fleet of Linde materials handling equipment working quietly (literally) behind the scenes, powered by Exide Technologies’ Sonnenschein Dryfit gel batteries.
The batteries are maintenance free and do not produce any gas when being charged. Exide Technologies also provided the associated chargers – both standard and high efficiency.
David Bridges, operations manager – logistics department of Eurostar UK says: “We demanded maintenance free batteries for two reasons: the charging areas are either beneath ground level or in low ventilation areas, so removing any gassing was paramount for health & safety and to provide a comfortable working environment for staff. Additionally, we didn’t want to distract staff from their primary duties of loading and unloading baggage and catering supplies. This means time saved in not having to regularly maintain the batteries, particularly with topping up the electrolyte, with the associated time and cost implications for training. Sonnenschein batteries have an unrivalled track record in performance and safety.”
The new fleet comprises:
10 x P250 tow tractors for loading and off-loading catering supplies
6 x P60 3-wheel tow tractors for cleaning and refuse duties
2 x P30 tow tractors for manoeuvring trolleys round the terminal
5 x N20 Order pickers for loading baggage and parcel cages
3 x T20 AP powered rider pallet trucks for moving food within the stores areas
2 x E16 Electric counter-balance trucks for stores areas
1 x R16 Reach truck for moving crates of wines in the stores
Because the fleet is not in continuous use and not placed under heavy load, the Dryfit gel batteries are ideal; unlike conventional flooded lead acid batteries, they are actually suited to opportunity charging. Bridges adds: “Dryfit batteries actually prefer to be kept warm for optimum life, so keeping them on charge whilst not in use should provide us with years of trouble-free use.”
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Author
Chris Rowlands
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