Area Class requirements for fork Lift battery chargers

[moondoggy]

Hello,

I am trying to find out what electrical area requirements I have to design to in locating a fork lift truck battery charger in my mechanical room.

Are there any special requirements, i.e., NEMA 4, 7 etc. that have to be implemented?

Does the room have to be ventilated?

My understanding is that battery chargers give off H2.

Regards,

Nick VOlpe

Edited to remove the e-mail address. If you use the PM system, you can exchange e-mail addresses there. Thanks, Charlie

[ December 30, 2004, 06:47 PM: Message edited by: charlie ]

 

[rbalex]

Re: Area Class requirements for fork Lift battery chargers

Batteries mounted on the truck are not in the NEC scope.

Battery chargers do not give off hydrogen, the batteries themselves do. Ventilation is still good idea, but the amount of hydrogen liberated is negligible.

Please do not use your email address in the body of the post.

 

[petersonra]

Re: Area Class requirements for fork Lift battery chargers

Bob is right. The battery chargers are not an issue, as whatever hydrogen is given off comes from the batteries.

If its an open area, the hydrogen will not have a chance to accumulate in enough concentration that it would present a hazard.

The only time I ever saw any special consideration for batteries being charged was in a case where they were put inside a small gasketed cabinet to prevent water ingress. The solution used was power ventilation. A supply and return duct that came into and out of the cabinet provided a means for forced ventiliation from a remote area.

As I recall, the engineer that came up with this scheme said it did not even really have to be fan forced since the tiny amount of hydrogen gas generated would probably dissipate through the gaskets before it would be able to build up enough to be an explosion risk. He had all kinds of interesting calculations about the rate at which hydrogen would seep through the enclosure gaskets versus how much hydrogen would be generated.

 

[benaround]

Re: Area Class requirements for fork Lift battery chargers

Our shop wired 4-5 COSCO stores which all had battery chargers for their forklifts,They had the charging area open to the rest of the store,above that area was a hooded type vent. All of the charging units were wired thru contactors activated by a single pole switch per unit any one switch would also power up the vent!

 

[moondoggy]

Re: Area Class requirements for fork Lift battery chargers

Thank you all for your inputs.