Vibrations and poor driving conditions are commonplace on a mining site. The impact on your battery can be huge.
Roads on a mining site are continually changing and suffer from extreme environmental and wear conditions. From gradients and potholes to dust and mud, the list of road faults that mining vehicles have to endure is never-ending.
These harsh environmental factors have a significant impact on vehicle batteries, due to the severe vibrations that they cause. Vibration is one of the leading killers of commercial batteries as it shakes the plates around and can loosen internal connections. It can also cause cracks in the cell connectors and separators.
The solution is to find a battery built for superior performance. OPTIMA® batteries are the ultimate power source, engineered for ultimate cranking power and built for extreme vibration and heavy-duty vehicles operating in extreme conditions.
The secret to the power behind an OPTIMA battery is the patented SPIRALCELL TECHNOLOGY®. The battery has where spiral-wound cells instead of flat battery plates found in most traditional batteries. It also has more plate surface, closer plate spacing and uses high-purity lead, in fact 99.99% pure, which results in low internal resistance. This low resistance gives you more power in a smaller box, the ability to recharge much faster, and higher and cleaner voltage during discharge.
Other features of an OPTIMA battery are the immobilised plates that are locked in place to ensure improved vibration resistance, reduce shedding of active paste material, and decreased the gradual loss of power and capacity as the battery ages.
The grid material in OPTIMA batteries is also more resistant to grid degradation, and its wholly sealed design prevents loss of water, which can lead to plate dry-out and failure. This creates a battery that lasts longer and performs better throughout its life.
This unique design offers many performance advantages in mining vehicles:
- Immobilising the internal components, OPTIMA’s SPIRALCELL technology provides up to 15 times greater vibration resistance than traditional batteries
- The average OPTIMA battery only has less than 30 components compared to a standard lead acid battery that has close 120+ components
- The first ten seconds of a vehicle’s starting cycle is critical. OPTIMA batteries deliver a comparatively higher level of power during this cycle than conventional batteries
- OPTIMA’s high-density active material provides exceptional cycle life compared to standard batteries. OPTIMA batteries can be rotated up to 180 degrees with no spillage and are considered a non-hazardous item.
- Extremely long shelf life due to the low self-discharge characteristics which means lower maintenance
Get in touch with OPTIMA for more information on powering your mining vehicles.