Simple battery management could save commercial vehicle businesses thousands every year

LONDON, UK: For commercial vehicle operators, breakdowns aren’t just an inconvenience because of the repair costs, they also have a knock on effect that can to lead to missed delivery slots and even greater expenses. However, many breakdowns could be avoided with simple battery management, according to CTEK, a leading global brand in vehicle battery protection and maintenance.

24V batteries work in two 12V pairs so careful management is particularly important in the CV arena and, if one battery has a different charge level to the other, it can easy, and quickly result in the entire unit needing to be prematurely replaced. By adopting a simple battery management routine using battery testing and a CTEK smart battery charger, these costs, and risks, can be significantly reduced.

Testing has often reveals that batteries require varying degrees of attention but mainly recharging. A fully charged 24V battery will have a voltage of 25.4V but, if this level drops below 24.8V, a process called sulphation will begin to occur, resulting in a drop of the battery’s performance.

The unique CTEK system, however, quickly and safely deals with the problems that reduce battery life and cause failure – sulphation and stratification - safely and at the touch of a button. CTEK’s dedicated charging programme (or algorithm) goes to work automatically, detecting battery issues and dealing with them systematically to restore power, condition and, at the same time, avoid fluid loss – a major problems with sealed batteries.

Jan-ulf Soderberg, head of Brand and Marketing at CTEK, commented: “The process of effective battery management has been made even more important following the introduction of stringent emissions regulations. Now, CV’s perform more starts per 1000 miles and ‘engine off’ electrical system power consumption has also increased – both placing additional strain on the battery.”

With the technology available from CTEK, battery maintenance can become a regular service routine without causing disruption to other maintenance activities, and the benefits in vehicle reliability and cost saving mean that investing in the right equipment will give a return on investment within weeks. However, in the CV sphere a 12V battery charger very often would not be powerful enough the complete the job effectively so, ensure that a 24V charger is used.