Out today in the The Commercial Vehicle Workshop April Edition "A thought-provoking comment by Ken Clark, Managing Director of the CV Show exhibitors Rotronics, on the practical benefits of a battery management programme."

Snap shot of what it includes:

The battery is the heartbeat of any vehicle and is similar to the human heart in that it must be looked after, maintained and checked regularly to avoid considerable problems – in a vehicle, that means roadside defects and rising avoidable costs. If any vehicle battery is ignored and left to its own devices, it is likely to have a reduced lifespan of 50%, and the impact of poor maintenance could easily account for up to 20% of annual battery related costs.

Rotronics (www.rotronicsbms.com) are specialists in battery management solutions and the UK partners of Midtronics. A battery management programme has been devised by Rotronics, working closely with a wide range of commercial vehicle customers in order to reduce unnecessary costs and get the best out of their fleet batteries. So a battery management programme ensures that:

• The return-on-investment can be proved, and each workshop will have the expertise and knowledge to maximise fault diagnosis, increase productivity and improve customer service.
• A full auditable record is available to monitor and track a fleet’s battery performance.
• Batteries are tested proactively, at the point of service and routine inspection.
• Imbalanced batteries are identified and charged accordingly.
• Batteries are maintained at optimum levels.
• Defective batteries are identified and replaced before they affect vehicle reliability.

The aim of Rotronics is to work to work with our customers to identify any issues before they hit the fleet. We do this by checking the battery electrical system (the starter and alternator) to identify which parasitic drains may be present. Utilising the CX Pro 50/2 diagnostic charger and
the EXP1000 FHD, with integral amp clamp and printer, any excessive drain that will cause a loss of power will be identified. With our battery management programme, we can identify issues and potential problems over a period of time and tackle any faults.

• We can see that the batteries were replaced in January 2015.
• That the batteries had reached their optimally rated CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) values.
• The battery set has maintained in balance, with both CCA and voltage levels remaining consistent within the set, through regular balanced charging as part of routine maintenance.