A forklift charger has to match the battery on four points: voltage, amp output, input power, and connector. Get those right and almost any modern charger will do the job; get one wrong and the charger either will not connect, will not finish a cycle in your shift window, or will shorten the battery's life. Here is how to read each one off the equipment you already have.
1. Voltage: read the battery tag
Forklift batteries are 24V, 36V, 48V, or 80V. The voltage is printed on the battery's data tag, and it also follows from the cell count: lead-acid cells are 2 V each, so 12 cells is 24V, 18 cells is 36V, 24 cells is 48V, and 40 cells is 80V. The charger must be the same nominal voltage. There is no "close enough."
A listing is not a fit for every truck. This page does not publish which truck uses 24V, 36V, 48V, or 80V.
2. Amps
This page does not publish a required amperage, a charge-time percent, or an example amp for a battery size. Voltage still has to match the battery. A lead-acid charger is not a lithium charger.
3. Input power: what the wall can supply
This page does not publish an input voltage or an output amp.
4. Connector
The charger plug must match the battery connector: Anderson SB175 or SB350 (grey or red housings, keyed by voltage color), Euro DIN 160/320, or the manufacturer's own. The connector color and pin size are a safety interlock against plugging a 48V charger into a 36V battery, so do not swap housings to make a mismatched pair fit. If the truck has an on-board charger, the input is a standard wall cord and this step does not apply.
Conventional vs high-frequency
This page does not publish an efficiency percent.
On-board vs off-board
On-board chargers ride on the truck and plug into a wall outlet; they are standard on walkies and small stackers and are limited to lower output because of size and heat. Off-board chargers sit at a charging station and handle anything from 24V walkie batteries to 80V counterbalance batteries at high current. If you run more than one shift or swap batteries, off-board is the only practical option.
Lithium
Lithium (LiFePO4) forklift batteries need a charger with a lithium profile: a constant-current/constant-voltage curve that stops at the BMS's voltage limit with no equalization stage. Most HF chargers offer a lithium setting; a lead-acid-only charger will either undercharge the pack or trip its BMS. Lithium also tolerates opportunity charging without the sulfation penalty lead-acid suffers, which is the main operational reason fleets convert.
What to have in hand before you order
- Battery voltage and Ah from the tag
- Number of shifts and the longest window the battery sits idle
- Input voltage and phase available at the charger location
- Connector type and color on the battery
- Chemistry (flooded, AGM/gel, lithium)
With those five, the charger is a lookup rather than a guess.
Chargers we list are on the forklift battery chargers page. A listing is not a fit for every truck. The GREEN series pages are on the site. For a specific model, send the battery tag details. If you have a failed charger module rather than a failed charger, the charger module repair and exchange program covers Hawker, Enersys, and ACT Quantum units.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a 36V charger on a 48V forklift battery? No. Charger and battery voltage must match. The keyed connector is designed to prevent this, and forcing it can damage the battery and the charger.
How long does a forklift battery take to charge? This page does not publish a charge time.
Is a bigger charger always better? This page does not publish a charge rate. Voltage still has to match the battery.
What does "opportunity charging" mean? Charging during breaks and shift changes instead of a single full cycle. It works well with lithium and with HF chargers designed for it; done with a conventional charger on a flooded battery, it causes sulfation.
Single-phase or three-phase? This page does not publish an input voltage or an output amp.