April 17, 2019 Vol. 16 No. 8

In an age of comprehensively complex and expensive technologies – like the Nikola Two truck, which I’ll get to in a minute — it’s refreshing to discover serious benefits in something very simple that won’t cost you an arm and a pair of legs. In fact, Mack is now offering one such gizmo for free. Well, maybe not free in the overall scheme of things, but it’s now standard equipment on the company’s entire truck lineup. Not to mention being a great idea.

I’m talking about a little battery refresher that should, Mack says, significantly extend the life of electrical charging system components. It made the announcement during a press conference at our ExpoCam 2019 truck show in Montréal last week. The battery refresher helps reduce and reverse the effects of sulfation, giving lead-acid batteries longer life and superior performance.

“Sulfation is one of the top causes of lead-acid battery failure,” said Roy Horton, Mack’s director of product strategy. “With the addition of the refresher, we can increase the life of a battery by up to two times and help prevent unplanned no-starts.”

Sulfation occurs when sulfate crystals, a by-product of normal battery operation, build up on the battery’s lead plates. As more sulfate crystals build up, the battery loses its ability to accept energy and reach a full charge, shortening its life.

The refresher emits high-frequency pulses of energy to remove the sulfate crystals and allow the batteries to once again accept a full charge, resulting in significantly improved life and performance. In addition, fully charged batteries reduce the wear and tear experienced by other electrical system components, such as the alternator and starter, helping extend their service life.

I spoke with Roy Horton at the show and, as far he can tell, he says Mack is the only truck-maker to even offer the little battery refresher at all, let alone as standard fare. They’re available in the aftermarket too, of course. Ironically, a day later, a press release landed on my ‘desk’ announcing an updated battery charger line of a similar sort. See below…

THE SOLARPULSE CHARGER line from PulseTech has been updated with more efficient versions that offer increased wattage to charge, maintain, and desulfate lead-acid batteries in vehicles and equipment stored outside.

Unused vehicles and equipment can experience a loss of battery power and deteriorate over time and the SolarPulse Solar Charger Maintainers address this problem.

The company’s new SolarPulse 3-, 7-, and 12-watt battery chargers combine high-frequency ‘pulse technology’ with microprocessor-controlled intelligent charging algorithms to charge, condition, and maintain vehicle and equipment batteries, extending battery performance and useful life.