
SAFETY RULES AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Safety Rules
STORING / RETURNING TO
SERVICE
Bothstoringyourvehicleandreturningitto serviceshould
only be performed by authorized personnel.
Storing Your Vehicle
•Cleanthebatteries,thenfill andchargebeforeputting
the vehicle in storage. Do not store batteries in a
discharged condition.
•Lube all grease fittings.
•Clean, dry, and check all exposed electrical
connections.
•Inflate tires to proper pressure (if applicable).
•Forextended storage, thevehicleshould beelevated
so that the tires do not touch the ground.
If stored for a prolonged period, the batteries should be
charged as follows:
Returning to
Service
•Check the
battery’s state
of charge and
charge if
required.
•Perform ALL
maintenance checks in the periodic checklist.
•Removeanyblocks from thevehicle and/or placethe
vehicle down on to the ground.
•Test drive before putting into normal service.
Storage
Temperature
(F)
Charging Interval
(months)
Over 60 1
Between 40 and 60 2
Below 40 6
To obtain the maximum battery life:
Charge the batteries only after they reach a normal
discharge as indicated on the Battery Status Indicator
(BSI). Failure to follow this guideline could result in the
batteries entering an overcharge state, which will reduce
the life of the batteries. If you find it necessary to charge
the batteries before they are completely discharged we
recommendwaiting untilthey aredischarged aminimum
of25%to reduce thepossibilityof overcharging. Referto
VehicleControlsinthissection for information on how to
read the BSI.
Donot dischargethebatteriesbeyondanormaldischarge
as indicated on the BSI. Refer to Vehicle Controls in this
section for information on how to read the BSI.
Checkthe batteryelectrolyteonce aweek. Donotcharge
the batteries if the battery electrolyte is low. Charging
whentheelectrolyte is low will damagethebatteriesand
shortentheirlife-span.Only authorized personnel should
perform battery maintenance including maintaining the
batteryelectrolytelevel. Refer toSectionMaintenance,
Service and Repair for battery maintenance
information.
Do not interrupt the charging cycle. When the charger is
plugged in, allow it to turn off before disconnecting.
Interruptingthechargingcyclecouldleadtoovercharging
ordischarging thebatteries toodeep. Bothcircumstances
will shorten the life of the batteries.
New Battery Break in
Newbatteriesrequire a break inperiodof up to40-cycles.
The batteries will not have their full capacity during this
break in period and may require longer charging times.
Lestronic II Charger Operation
The Lestronic II®charger is a semi-automatic charging
system.ThechargerwillturnitselfONwhen theACpower
cord is connected to the AC power source and turn itself
OFF when the batteries are fully charged. Refer to the
data plate on the charger for the voltage and type power
required for the charger. When plugged in, the charger
assumes that the batteries require charging and will
charger for a minimum of approximately 4-hours. This
charger should not be plugged in until the batteries are
discharged beyond 50% or the batteries may be
overcharged..
Charging Time
Averagechargingtimeis8to10-hours.Thetimerequired
to fully charge your batteries will vary depending on:
•Capacity of the batteries, higher capacity requires
longer charge time.
•Output of the charger, higher output requires less
charge time.
•Depth of discharge, the deeper a battery is
discharged, the longer it takes to charge.
•Temperature,lowtemperaturesrequirelongercharge
time.
It is not unusual for charge times to exceed 15-hours,
especially with new batteries.
Charging time is limited to 20-hours (HBS) or 18-hours
(HB). A fault will occur if the charging time exceeds the
20-hour limit.