How to Design Pallet Racking for an Electric Stacker

If you have a storage area in which you want to install pallet racking, you need to get your dimensions right and design the pallet racking for the electric pallet stacker correctly. This calculator and guide will help you. Of course online calculators are fun, but you should still check with us to discuss the best storage design to work with your electric pallet stacker.

Calculate the number of pallets you can store in your storage area using an electric stacker

Use this calculator by entering in the data in each the data input boxes below. Compare two scenarios to test different storage designs.

Pallet Rack Calculator for Electric Stackers

This pallet rack calculator will estimate as close as possible the number of pallets you can store, the height of each beam level, and number of racking components you will need.

When designing a pallet storage warehouse that will use an electric stacker, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. Here are some key things to consider:

Things to consider when designing pallet racking for an electric pallet stacker

Dimensions of the pallets: You need to know the length and width of the pallet. Electric stackers straddle the width of the palletized load, so you will need to have an electric stacker that has a wide enough baseleg opening.
Height of the pallet: You will need to know the height of the palletized load. This will allow you know to calculate the height of the first beam level and each subsequent beam levels.
Lift off: You will need to know how much space you need to lift the pallet off the ground or the beam level to take it off the level for removal.
Beam dimensions: You will need to know how tall the face of the beam is.
Baseplate widths: You need to know how wide the baseplate is so that you can calculate a long enough beam to keep the baselegs away from the anchors.
Staddle baseleg widths: You will need to know how wide the baselegs are. Remember, you need enough space for three baselegs per bay of racking (2 pallets wide).
Upright column widths: You need to know how wide the column is – usually 3″ or 4″.
Length of the storage area: To calculate the length of the row of racking, you will need to how long the pallet storage area is.
Lift heights: You need to know lift height of electric stacker to be sure it has adequate forkl elevation to lift a pallet off of the top load beam.
Load capacity of the electric stacker: You will also need to know the load capacity of the electric stacker. This will determine the maximum weight of the pallets that can be stored and moved in the warehouse.
Storage density requirements: The next thing you need to consider is the storage density required. This will determine the height of the storage racks and the aisle widths needed for the electric stacker to operate efficiently. Generally, narrow aisle racking systems are used to maximize storage density.
Floor surface: The floor surface of the warehouse should be flat and even to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the electric stacker. Uneven surfaces can cause instability and damage to the equipment.
Lighting and ventilation: Adequate lighting and ventilation are important for the safety and productivity of workers using the electric pallet stacker equipment.
Power supply: You will also need to ensure that the warehouse has adequate power supply to support the electric stacker and any other equipment that will be used in the warehouse. Usually, you will need 110v single phase power for the charger.
Safety features: Finally, you should ensure that the electric stacker has appropriate safety features such as emergency stop buttons, backup alarms, and warning lights to prevent accidents and injuries. Additionally, training programs should be implemented for the safe operation of the electric stacker.

Design a storage area for a reach truck using the straddle method

You can also use this calculator to calculate the correct beam length for a reach truck application using the straddle method. The principles are the same. The difference is that Reach trucks have wide baseleg straddle arms. The can also lift higher in the area.

The downside to reach truck is they are bigger, need a wider aisle, are much more expensive, and require a drivers license in many jurisdictions to operate.

Buy Electric Stacker Online

Click below to buy (or find out more about) the EOSLift Electric Stacker. It is available online in our warehouse supply store.

July 24, 2021February 19, 2022

Compare LPG Forklift to Hydrogen Forklift

Hydrogen fuel cell for a forklift without covers

Compare LPG forklift to hydrogen forklift. To understand the fuel and maintenance savings available by switching from a propane (LPG) forklift to a hydrogen forklift, calculate your savings below. Our savings calculator will help identify the costs of running a propane forklift compared to a hydrogen fuel cell forklift. Your savings are based on the information you provide and some key industry data points.

Propane Forklift

Propane forklifts are a very popular PIT (powered industrial forklift) in the United States. The reason is that the forklift is inexpensive to buy and easy to refuel. But most warehouse managers do not realize that the cost of forklift maintenance and the cost of fuel is far higher than an electric forklift that is equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell.

Electric Forklifts Equipped with Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Electric forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells are less expensive to fuel and less expensive to maintain.

Forklift fuel cell being fueled with hydrogen

Compare LPG forklift to hydrogen forklift. Calculate your maintenance and fuel-saving below. You will find that LPG forklifts are far more expensive to run than electric forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Buy Hydrogen Forklifts Here

If you are interested in hydrogen fuel-cells for forklifts, visit this link.

Plug Power Sells Hydrogen Fuel Cells for Forklifts

Plug Power calls their fuel cells for forklifts, GenDrives.

GenDrive hydrogen fuel cells are designed specifically with material handling power in mind. As a drop-in replacement, our units fit into an existing electric lift truck’s battery compartment as a one-to-one battery replacement.

Fuel cells for forklifts allow you to drive productivity and streamline operations while maximizing forklift fleet uptime. They are also a good approach for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in warehousing.

July 24, 2021January 15, 2022

What is the Ampere-Hour Capacity of a Forklift Battery?

Forklift Battery Model Decoder – if you are trying to find out the ampere-hour capacity of your forklift battery, look no further. You can calculate the ampere-hour capacity of your forklift battery here using just the model number of the battery for reference.

If you want to know the ampere-hour capacity of a forklift battery, the information is hiding in the battery model number. Use this handy decoder to unlock the secrets contained in the forklift battery model number.

Enter the forklift battery model number in the spaces provided below

Decode the model number of a lead-acid battery. This decoder will tell you the voltage and the ampere-hour capacity of your lead-acid battery based on information contained in the battery model number only.

Available Ampere-Hours in a Forklift Battery

Because a forklift battery is never supposed to be discharged below 80% depth of charge, meaning there is always supposed to be 20% AH left in the battery so that the battery is not damaged, the available ampere-hours is 80% of the total number of amps.

How to calculate the kilowatts (kW) in a forklift battery

Also shown below is the calculated (approximate) kilowatts in the battery. This is calculated by multiplying volts by the amps and then dividing it all by 1000.

Explanation of the meaning of the forklift battery model number

Here is a detailed explanation of the meaning of each component of the forklift battery model number.

18 refers to the number of cells. Multiply this by 2 to get the voltage of the battery: 36 volts in the case of our example.

125 refers to the number of amps per cell.

13 refers to the number of negative plates in a cell. Take 13, minus 1, and divide by 2. This equals 6. Now multiply the middle number (number of amps per cell) by half the last number (minus 1). In our example, the number is 6.

July 23, 2021July 25, 2021

The True Cost To Charge A Forklift Battery

Many companies have no idea how much they are spending to charge a forklift battery. Costs are hidden, and difficult to calculate, until now. Use this online calculator to estimate the cost to charge batteries for forklifts.

Estimate the Cost to Charge your Electric Forklift Batteries – It is more than you think!

This calculator is provided to support your internal discussions about reducing operating costs in your warehouse. Please use this as an informal estimate only. Please consult with your accounting firm before making business decisions based on the information provided here.

The Data Points of Charging a Forklift Battery

Here are the key data points that will go into the calculation of the cost of charging a forklift battery.

Forklift battery voltage

Forklifts and lift trucks that fall into the category of PIT (powered industrial trucks) run on these voltages in North America:

24 volts
36 volts
48 volts
80 volts (rarely)

In Europe, forklift voltages are often 80 volts.

Ampere hour of the forklift battery

The ampere hour capacity, also known as the AH of a battery, describes the total capacity of the battery’s cells. The ampere hours capacity, AH, is found hidden in the model number of the battery. To find out what the AH is of a forklift’s battery, follow the red cable from the connector up to the battery and then remove the plastic cover. The battery model number will be listed there.

Sometimes, there is a sticker on the side of the forklift battery noting the ampere-hour capacity of the battery.

THE AMPERE HOUR RATING OF A FORKLIFT BATTERY

How to Calculate the Ampere-Hour Storage Capacity of a Forklift Battery

There is a lot of information available in the forklift battery model number. To calculate the energy storage capacity of a battery, take the middle number from the model number and times by the last number once you have subtracted 1 and divided it in half. Here is an example:

Model number: 18-125-15

15 – 1 / 2 = 7 x 125 = 875 ampere-hours (AH). Find out more and calculate the AH in your forklift battery.

The Efficiency of a Charger

The efficiency of a forklift charger is based on the Average Power Conversion Efficiency, which means the ratio of DC output power to AC input power. Said another way, it is the comparison of the AC kWh drawn from the wall versus the number of DC kWh that are delivered to the battery.

The Columbic Efficiency of a Forklift Battery

The efficiency of a battery to accept a charge is what is called Coulomb’s Law. The coulombic efficiency is the rate at which electrons transfer.

If you are charging a lithium-ion battery, use 99%. Otherwise, 85% is a good number to use for a lead-acid forklift battery. If you are fast charging the battery, decrease the efficiency (less that 85%). If the battery is newer and being charged in a cooled area, raise it to 90%. Remember, the ability of a battery to accept a charge will never be 100%, so you need to discount the energy being received into the battery. The older the forklift battery, the hotter it charges at, the faster you try to charge it, and the greater than 70% you complete the charge with, the lower your coulombic efficiency will be.

Peak Demand Charge

To understand the peak demand charges a business needs to pay, think of peak demand as the highest rate paid for the highest usage in any 15 minute period.

If you think you are paying only 10 cents per kW, but you are charging all your Lithium-ion batteries all at the same time when the team goes on break at 11 am, you can be certain your entire day will be charged at the peak demand rate you were paying at 11 am.

Commercial customers typically face demand charges ($/kW) based on their peak demand during each billing period. This peak demand is usually defined as the highest average electricity usage occurring within a defined time interval (often 15 minutes) during the billing period. For many commercial customers, demand charges can account for 30 to 70
percent of the total charges on a monthly electric bill. Demand charge rates vary considerably across utilities, locations, building sizes, and building types. Because peak
demand is based on how and when a customer uses electricity, even two customers that consume similar amounts of electricity and are billed under the same utility rate may incur vastly different demand charge expenses, depending on their peak demand.

So, if your normal rate is 10 cents per kWh, divide it by .3 in order to gross the amount up by 70%.

Enter the number of lift trucks (forklifts, pallet jacks, turret trucks)

A lift truck is the term we use to refer to PIT (powered industrial trucks). Count the number of units in your material handling fleet. This will impact the cost to charge forklift batteries.

The number of forklift batteries to charge

How many batteries do you have for your PIT fleet? Do you have only one battery per lift truck? Then this number is likely the same as the number you entered for lift trucks. If it is more, then you are likely changing batteries. If it is the same, you are likely opportunity-charging batteries. If you have a single shift, it is possible that you are simply parking your lift trucks and charging them.

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021

The Price of a Forklift Battery

Use this calculator to look up the approximate retail price for a forklift battery based on the forklift type.

These forklift battery prices are based on published prices as of December 2020. You can expect a 3% to 5% price increase each year.

Forklift Battery Price

Look up the price of a forklift battery by selecting the type of lift truck, and then the width of the battery compartment in inches. The width dimension refers to the number of inches that the forklift battery measures down the length of the forklift from the front to the back of the forklift battery compartment. It is not the width of the forklift, but the length of the forklift battery compartment space (only).