Powering a Cherry Picker?

[patp]

It is, at the moment, powered by a battery. As it is used infrequently I have been toying with the idea of using a transformer with either my Honda generator or mains electric if available.

What do others think?

[Jeremy Harris]

The chances are that it will need a pretty high peak current to operate, something that a battery can happily provide, but which a generator or mains DC power supply might struggle with.  Best bet might be to keep the battery but just charge it when you use it, so that it stays topped up.  Even a fairly tired battery may still be able to provide a fairly high peak current.

[Carrerahill]

59 minutes ago, patp said:

It is, at the moment, powered by a battery. As it is used infrequently I have been toying with the idea of using a transformer with either my Honda generator or mains electric if available.

What do others think?

It depends. You can get 240V cherry pickers which plug in - if you look at the motors on the hydraulic pump(s) it may be possible to get direct replacements that are 240V - control circuitry could be left as is and just run it using a 12/24V DC supply (assuming that is what it has) and a relay to run the motor on mains. It is probably how I would do it - simply put back in the DC motor if you want to change it back.

 

Alternatively as @JSHarris says, it will probably demand a fairly high current and therefore need a hefty transformer but not impossible. What about connect it to a permanent charge system? I am not sure if yours is 12/24V but you could fit a constant supply charger to the cherry picker and a mains lead, when in use simply plug it in, the thing will charge all the time and when you use it the load will come from the battery - presumably you are not driving about in it constantly and going up and down in which case the constant charging will effectively leave you with a "mains" supply. 

 

Lot's of options. It's just how far you want to go.

[patp]

29 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

It depends. You can get 240V cherry pickers which plug in - if you look at the motors on the hydraulic pump(s) it may be possible to get direct replacements that are 240V - control circuitry could be left as is and just run it using a 12/24V DC supply (assuming that is what it has) and a relay to run the motor on mains. It is probably how I would do it - simply put back in the DC motor if you want to change it back.

 

Alternatively as @JSHarris says, it will probably demand a fairly high current and therefore need a hefty transformer but not impossible. What about connect it to a permanent charge system? I am not sure if yours is 12/24V but you could fit a constant supply charger to the cherry picker and a mains lead, when in use simply plug it in, the thing will charge all the time and when you use it the load will come from the battery - presumably you are not driving about in it constantly and going up and down in which case the constant charging will effectively leave you with a "mains" supply. 

 

Lot's of options. It's just how far you want to go.

It is 12v and used infrequently to prune trees and maintain the house. Quite fancy the idea of a constant supply charger.

 

It has run on a 32 ah 12 v battery but this does not last very long.

[Temp]

If its a 12v lead acid cell they can benefit from being kept on a float charger when not being used. This is a mode available on some regular battery chargers. In float mode it charges to a slightly lower voltage so you can leave it connected all the time without it overcharging or "boiling" the cell dry. I found cells kept on float live longer (retain their capacity longer). If you leave them alone they self discharge and they really don't live long if left flat.

 

[PeterW]

Up the battery to a leisure battery and then add an Oxford bike charger to the side - it will trickle and maintain the battery and a leisure battery will easily provide what you need capacity wise 

[Vijay]

Had this problem with my digger as I don't use it too often. I left a couple of 12v solar charger attached and it starts when I need now

[PeterW]

1 minute ago, Vijay said:

Had this problem with my digger as I don't use it too often. I left a couple of 12v solar charger attached and it starts when I need now

 

Take your isolator key out as that’s just the battery discharging through the control circuit. 

[Vijay]

2 hours ago, PeterW said:

 

Take your isolator key out as that’s just the battery discharging through the control circuit. 

isolator key?

[PeterW]

Under the main cover there should be a battery isolator key ..??? 

[Vijay]

I'll have another look but didn't notice one. The solar panels work well but be good if there's an isolator for winter

[PeterW]

What make / model is it @Vijay..?

[Vijay]

Kubota KX91-3a