BATTERIES
36
access
INTERNATIONAL
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015
L
aunched in January, the
ReliantAGM fromTrojan
Battery offers a completely
newAGMdesign andhas been in
development for several years.
According toVickiHall,Trojan
director of global technical service,
Trojan’s engineering team set out
todesign the first true deep-cycle
AGM (absorbent glassmat) battery
and, along theway, came upwith
the newC-Max technology that is
incorporated in the final ReliantAGM
product. It takes pride of place inTrojan’s
newproduction facility inSandersville,
Georgia,USA.
MsHall says aerial work platformswill
be one of the product types to benefit from
the new battery range,with one of its design
criteria being to power equipment used in
locationswhere regulations require the use
of non-spillable batteries, such as airports,
healthcare facilities, shopping centres and
education facilities.
VickiHall,director of global technical
service, told
AI
there is a hugemarket potential
market for non-spillable,VRLA (valve-
regulated lead-acid) batteries, such as this.
Good source
Themanufacturer has previously offered an
AGM range but that product is sourced from
a thirdparty based inAsia. “Trojanhas been
around for 90 years in the deep cycle industry,
makingflooded batteries andwe decided that
we shouldpursuemanufacturing our own
AGM,”explainsMsHall. “The difference
between theAGM glassmat and the flooded
battery is that it is non-spillable, andAGM
is designednot tohave any free electrolyte, so
from amaintenance perspective youdon’t have
to addwater to them.
“It’s a big undertaking to launch awhole
product line.So our engineers startedwith a
cleanpiece of paper and looked at a trueAGM
design.”
TheAGM battery has been in service since
the late 1970’s, explainsMsHall,but was
originally designed to provide back-uppower
whenpower from an original sourcewent
down temporarily. “It was not designed to
provide energy over long durations, rather an
immediate need for a short period of time.
“In lift and access there are some customers
that useAGM batteries today but they are not
a true deep cycle design andwe have heard
them saying they are not all that pleasedwith
the consistency of the products.
“The internal designs and changes that we
havemademake it a true deep cycle battery
and addresses the issue of poor performance
and short life.”
The advantages of this technology over
flooded batteries is evident for access
equipment held in rental yards. “They are
supposed to bewatered at least once amonth.
But a lot of them are in big rental yardswhere
they don’t have peoplewho are experienced
in taking care of the batteries, so they have a
short life.This absorbed glassmat eliminates
the need formaintenance, so that is huge for
anybody in themarket today.”
It alsohelps thatTrojan’sAGM batteries
are now beingmanufactured inNorth
America, rather than inAsia.MsHall adds,
“Withproducts that are notmade in theUS,
particularly inAsia, there are a lot of battery
companies,with a lot of locations, so customers
can strugglewith consistency.”
Part of the consistency issue can be lead
times,which are up to 12weeks for products
produced offshore.That reduces to less than a
month if the product is produced in theUSA,
saysMsHall.
“We basically have a separate brandnew
facilitywith brandnew equipment.We are
launching six products in our first phase then
following onwith other phases.We have never
Pushing the
Trojan Battery has launched, what it describes, as
the industry’s first true deep-cycle AGM battery.
Vicki Hall
, Trojan director of global technical
service, tells
AI
why AGM is gaining in popularity.
Vicki Hall, director of global technical
service at Trojan Batteries.
The T105-AGM
from the new Trojan
Batteries Reliant AGM range.
