When a customer calls to say their battery is fried, the battery almost never wore out. It got run flat, charged halfway over lunch, topped off with tap water, or left sitting dead through a cold snap. One skipped habit at a time, until the only fix is a replacement.
In Episode 9, President & CEO Naveen Vinta and VP of Engineering Eric Niemi take on a problem that comes straight from the field: lead-acid batteries dying years before they should. Eric walks through the most common ways crews kill a deep-cycle battery, the daily checks that prevent it, and how to handle charging across multiple shifts, in hazardous environments, and on machines that sit idle for months. Then they tackle the question customers keep asking now that lithium prices have fallen: why does Bailey still build with lead-acid? The answer runs through the UL industrial truck standard, crush and impact testing, charger compatibility, cost, and the counterweight a lead-acid battery quietly provides in the chassis.
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Who This Podcast Is For
This show exists for three people:
- The procurement agent who's been handed a spec they've never sourced before and doesn't know where to start.
- The production floor manager who needs to improve productivity and access in a complex or regulated environment — safely.
- The finance and risk officer who signs off on equipment purchases and carries the liability when the wrong machine gets approved.
If any of those descriptions sound familiar, this is your show.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
- The number one way to kill a lead-acid battery — running it flat — and why a lunch-break charge is only a surface charge, not a true deep cycle
- What happens inside a battery left sitting discharged: exposed lead plates oxidize and stop charging or discharging properly
- Why battery-powered machines aren't meant to drive a quarter mile between buildings
- Why watering matters and why it has to be distilled water — tap water and "pure" water carry trace minerals that ruin the chemistry
- The daily checklist in the ops manual: water level, state of charge, tight and clean connections, and cracked cases or melted wiring
- Onboard vs. external charging, what opportunity charging is, and why EX machines must leave the hazardous area to charge
- When a second battery pack pays for itself: multiple shifts, 8–10 hours per pack, and a shift-handoff routine built on trust but verify
- Why lead-acid is the only option in explosion-proof environments: the UL industrial truck standard and its crush and impact testing
- Why lithium-ion still costs five to ten times as much once you add fire suppression, a battery control module, and a dedicated charger
- The counterweight problem: lithium weighs about a third as much, so a one-for-one swap cascades into a new machine design
- Storing a machine you only use once a quarter: corrosion protectant on terminals, trickle charging, and keeping batteries from freezing
- Why the wrong or undersized charger cooks wires, terminals, and the battery itself
Episode Chapters
00:00 — Cold open: fall weather, IMTS in Chicago, and a CH10 compact handler ships
01:00 — Today's topic from the field: fried lead-acid batteries, and why not lithium?
02:00 — The number one killer: running it flat; deep cycle vs. surface charge
03:00 — Oxidized plates and the lunch-break charge that never finishes
04:00 — Driving between buildings, forgetting to water, and why it has to be distilled
05:00 — The five-minute habit: swappable battery packs and charge indicators on CH and EX
06:00 — PMCS and the daily checklist: water, state of charge, connections, and cracked cases
07:00 — Onboard vs. external charging, and what opportunity charging means
08:00 — EX charging outside the hazardous area; when a second battery makes sense
09:00 — Multiple shifts: 8–10 hours per pack, and why lithium won't get you 16
10:00 — The shift handoff: check water at the start, plug in at the end, trust but verify
11:00 — Why only lead-acid works in explosion-proof environments: the UL industrial truck standard
12:00 — Crush and impact testing, and why mass-market lithium doesn't qualify
13:00 — EV and semi-truck batteries: specialized chargers and higher voltages
14:00 — Proven and available: why lithium still costs five to ten times more
15:00 — Smart chargers, no battery control module, and lead-acid as the industry standard
16:00 — Snorkel's move to lithium scissor lifts, and what it does for runtime
17:00 — Cycle life, and why lead-acid typically needs replacing in four to five years
18:00 — Weight and counterweight: lithium is about a third as heavy
19:00 — The butterfly effect of a one-for-one swap; storing a machine used once a quarter
20:00 — Corrosion protectant on the terminals, and trickle charging through the off-season
21:00 — Frozen batteries, cracked cases, and matching the charger to the battery
22:00 — Undercharging cooks the wiring; the takeaway: it's a habit problem, not a technology problem
23:00 — Lithium is coming, but the battery you own is the cheapest one you'll ever buy
00:00 — Cold open: fall weather, IMTS in Chicago, and a CH10 compact handler ships
01:00 — Today's topic from the field: fried lead-acid batteries, and why not lithium?
02:00 — The number one killer: running it flat; deep cycle vs. surface charge
03:00 — Oxidized plates and the lunch-break charge that never finishes
04:00 — Driving between buildings, forgetting to water, and why it has to be distilled
05:00 — The five-minute habit: swappable battery packs and charge indicators on CH and EX
06:00 — PMCS and the daily checklist: water, state of charge, connections, and cracked cases
07:00 — Onboard vs. external charging, and what opportunity charging means
08:00 — EX charging outside the hazardous area; when a second battery makes sense
09:00 — Multiple shifts: 8–10 hours per pack, and why lithium won't get you 16
10:00 — The shift handoff: check water at the start, plug in at the end, trust but verify
11:00 — Why only lead-acid works in explosion-proof environments: the UL industrial truck standard
12:00 — Crush and impact testing, and why mass-market lithium doesn't qualify
13:00 — EV and semi-truck batteries: specialized chargers and higher voltages
14:00 — Proven and available: why lithium still costs five to ten times more
15:00 — Smart chargers, no battery control module, and lead-acid as the industry standard
16:00 — Snorkel's move to lithium scissor lifts, and what it does for runtime
17:00 — Cycle life, and why lead-acid typically needs replacing in four to five years
18:00 — Weight and counterweight: lithium is about a third as heavy
19:00 — The butterfly effect of a one-for-one swap; storing a machine used once a quarter
20:00 — Corrosion protectant on the terminals, and trickle charging through the off-season
21:00 — Frozen batteries, cracked cases, and matching the charger to the battery
22:00 — Undercharging cooks the wiring; the takeaway: it's a habit problem, not a technology problem
23:00 — Lithium is coming, but the battery you own is the cheapest one you'll ever buy
About Your Hosts
Naveen Vinta — President & CEO, Bailey Specialty Cranes & Aerials A Service-Disabled U.S. Army Veteran and experienced operations leader, Naveen acquired Bailey in August 2024 and has since modernized operations, reduced lead times, and expanded Bailey's reach into commercial space, defense, and data center markets. Connect with Naveen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvinta/
Eric Niemi — VP of Engineering, Bailey Specialty Cranes & Aerials With over 25 years of experience in mechanical engineering and specialty mobile machinery, Eric has been with Bailey since the beginning — helping design and deliver the industry's first explosion-proof scissor lift in 2004. He leads Bailey's engineering team and is the technical authority behind every certified machine that leaves the Muskego, Wisconsin facility. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-niemi-43a8103/
About Bailey Cranes
Bailey Specialty Cranes & Aerials is a U.S.-based manufacturer of explosion-proof aerial lifts, clean room man lifts, compact handlers, glass lifting equipment, and fully custom engineered lifting solutions. Headquartered in Muskego, Wisconsin, Bailey is ISO 9001:2015 certified, Factory Mutual approved, and a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
Bailey machines are engineered to ANSI A92.20, FM Class 3600/3610/3615, and UL 583 standards for use in Class I Division 1 hazardous locations, ISO Class 5–8 cleanrooms, aerospace facilities, defense installations, semiconductor manufacturing environments, and data centers.
Trusted clients include Boeing, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, the U.S. Air Force, Disney, and the Smithsonian Institution. Safety engineered. Performance delivered.
Trusted clients include Boeing, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, the U.S. Air Force, Disney, and the Smithsonian Institution. Safety engineered. Performance delivered.
Resources & Links
Bailey Cranes Website: https://baileycranes.com
Send us your questions: podcasts@baileycranes.com
Naveen Vinta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvinta/
Eric Niemi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-niemi-43a8103/
New episodes drop every two weeks. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
