What You Need To Know About Making Repairs On Your Forklifts
Posted on: 22 December 2021
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Forklifts are used in many industries and for many uses. As a result, the design of these machines varies, and they can be powered by gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, and electric motors. Keeping these machines running and on the job requires some knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic systems combined inside these versatile vehicles, so hiring a forklift repair service when one goes down is often the best option.
Finding A Repair Service
If you have a forklift that is not working correctly, finding a forklift repair service that can look at it and assess the issue is the best place to start. The repair service may be familiar with many different kinds of forklifts, but it is essential to let them know what your machine is so they can be prepared to assess the issues and make the necessary repairs for you.
General Repair
Electric forklifts are often challenging to work on because they depend on the batteries to run everything on the machine, and something as simple as a bad cell in the battery pack can affect all the systems. The forklift repair service you choose needs to be able to test the battery systems on these forklifts to determine if it will maintain a charge under load or if the system is putting too much stress on the batteries.
Gas, diesel, and propane forklifts all use an internal combustion engine, so the battery is no longer used once they start. The hydraulic systems run off a mechanically driven pump on the engine, and if the engine is not running right, the entire machine can be affected. The forklift repair service working on one of these machines needs to know how to work on each system in the forklift to make repairs to these machines, and proper troubleshooting can be an essential part of the process.
Hydraulic Repair
The hydraulic system on your forklift is responsible for raising and lowering the forks and supporting the weight of the load on them. If the hydraulic pump is not working correctly, it may not build the required pressure to raise the load, and the tech will need to troubleshoot the system to determine what is causing the failure. If the pump is faulty, replacing it is more than likely the only option, but the tech will need to test the pressure in the system to determine that.
In some cases, a lack of maintenance can cause the fluid level in the hydraulic system to drop, and the forklift repair tech can fill the system, remove any air, and the forklift will be able to lift the load properly. Blockages in a hydraulic line can also cause the system to fail, or lines that are damaged and leaking can introduce air into the system, causing an air-bound system to stutter and react improperly when loaded.
For more information on forklift repair, contact a company like RDS Equipment, Inc.