Electric pallet jack

[blazemaster83]

I was recently given 2 electric pallet jacks for the price of the gas to pick them up. Both have dead batteries, both 24v. The first is a yale 3 ton model with 6ft forks and a large forklift style battery. I had a pair of batteries laying around so wired them up for 24v and gave it a few tests. That pallet jack seems to work if it had a new battery.

The second one is a lighter model Raymond, 2200lb capacity with 4ft forks, but lifts to 62" and is much more manageable in a garage shop. The problem with this one is it has a circuit board where the Yale is just some relays. The board seems to be dead and I am wondering if I can just tear it out and rewire the machine with a bank of relays like the older Yale.

The lift seems to be in great shape and is a 2001 model. It would be a pretty handy unit to have around, I have a machine shop and constantly move heavy stuff. It doesn't seem like a complicated machine and just has 2 functions. Go up and down, and move forward and backward.

A new board is like $1300 and no way that is happening.

What are your thoughts? Am i crazy?

 

[Zeke]

Have you checked eBay for used boards?

 

[blazemaster83]

I have checked ebay, the closest thing I can find is a repair service for the board, at $690. I could buy a working pallet jack with battery for that.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I will take a manual pallet jack any day. I just scrapped my electric crown unit a few months ago, and all it needed was batteries. Even though they have safety devices, they can hem you up and hurt you in close quarters. The manual unit is much better in close quarters from my experience, and I have used both powered and manual a LOT at work over the years. The unitized batteries are very expensive, although some use 4 golf cart batteries like mine.

 

[blazemaster83]

I have a manual pallet jack. They have their uses but I would like to get these electric ones running. Ever had 5k lbs on a manual pallet jack and had to move it 100 feet?

The electric one will move it with the push of a button, same with raising and lowering the load. You need to pump the manual jack. Electric pallet jacks also have brakes, where a manual one does not. That means you can move loads on slight inclines much easier/safer.

I also have a small forklift and a large gantry crane but I can see many times when these pallet jacks would be useful.

 

[OccupantRJ]

If you are doing much distance, I have to agree that they are good for that. Be aware that some models have forks so thick that they can sometimes get hung up in pallets with warped boards. They hang up in the wheel openings. I have had to break and cut pallets to get them out before. The Crown I had was bad for that. Just throwing that out there.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The board may just need a simple fix such as touching up a bad solder joint or replacing some fried caps or stuck relays.

Do you see any burn marks on the board or bad solder joints or leaky capacitors? Can you post a close up picture of both sides of the board?

 

[blazemaster83]

Ill see if I can post up a pic of it, I haven't removed the board yet and you can"t see a whole lot with it in the machine. I did look in there with a flashlight and nothing looked burned but I will recheck. I will admit I am not much of an electric wizard, more of a mechanic.

I won't be lifting pallets much, mostly machines and heavy items. The big Yale lift has some thick forks but the little Raymond forks are pretty thin.

 

[matt_i]

I've spent a lot of time behind a hyster walkie. The circuit board is likely to perform the functions of having variable speed hydraulics and variable ground speeds. It should have the safety function of not moving when the handle is fully vertical, because that's how it can run you over going backwards, when you reach an immovable object.

Bottom line is that its unlikely that you can just rewire to use relays.

 

[blazemaster83]

That thought had entered my mind. I can see about the variable ground speed and brake but the raise and lower buttons are just maintained switches. I will remove the board later this afternoon and give it a better inspection.

 

[nh_yota]

Motorized pallet jacks are great until you walk into work one morning and notice that the night crew forgot to plug it into the charger before they left.

 

[blazemaster83]

I shouldnt have to worry about others leaving it off the charger, I am a one man shop. Got a look at the board today, nothing looks burned or broken. Both fuses look good. I noticed the lifting motor just uses a relay, i jumped it and the motor works fine. I unplugged most of the stuff for the pics

Here are some pics

The brake is built into the motor and has 2 leads. Its wired to the switch so when the lift moves the brake goes off, when you are off the throttle the brake comes back on. So its a pain the move this thing without power.