Optimal truck and trailer battery operations with Lucidity

Lucidity was established in 1981, and over the years it has acted as a primary and leading manufacturer of wiring and lighting products for transport industries around the world. With quality lighting products across the board at an affordable cost, it’s a brand many fleets continue to invest in with each trailer delivery.

According to Lucidity Australia President, Mathew Jenkins, the refrigerated transport industry heavily relies on battery power, but many operators forget to consider the loss of income with battery maintenance.

“Starting engines, powering lighting and electric hydraulic power packs are essential tasks which batteries are used for,” he says. “But when aftermarket products are fitted to these vehicles it’s often not considered how they may contribute to the loss of income or costly battery maintenance. For example, fridge plants all rely on a 12V battery to keep engines starting, and for every refrigerated trailer there are an array of accessories fitted to them sharing the very important power resource – for instance interior lighting.”

Mat says that during these instances it’s easy to completely flatten batteries. If this does occur, the battery will experience a shortened fundamental lifespan which is irreversible.

To mitigate this issue, Lucidity supplies the Charge Plus range of timer switches which prevents interior lamps from flattening fridge plant batteries. When operating, the switch will see a low voltage condition and switch off the interior lamps protecting the power source. And, once the fridge plant is started, it will begin recharging the battery and the interior lamps will be turned back on.

Charge Plus transport chargers can charge an onboard battery used in electric hydraulic power packs. To do this, the charger has dual inputs which allows users to charge from two sources. Mat explains that one of these can be a park lamp circuit and the other can be via an auxiliary input which can be a direct feed from the truck.

“The truck input has a Voltage Sensing Relay (VSR) that only turns on if the engine is running,” he says. “When a trailer is not in use, the charger draws no energy which ensures the truck doesn’t suffer a flat battery. So, if you intend to buy new or used equipment, it is important to understand that your vehicle combination is suitable for the task.”

The range of transport chargers is also designed to work on the three voltage inputs seen within the Australian truck market – 12V, 24V and reduced 24V. According to Lucidity, this is a feature no other manufacturer currently replicates.

“With truck and trailer combinations being able to be interchanged at any time, this factor is very important to understand,” Mat says. “Reduced 24 volts is not 12 volts, these electronic reducers do not produce the clean 12V supply a battery does.”

Along with the VSR charger, Lucidity Australia sells a Battery Voltage Assurance (BVA) which is designed to disconnect the supply to any electronic unit if the input voltage drops below 12.1V, or if it detects excess current through the relay. Like many of Lucidity’s products, the LED status of the BVA provides a clear distinction for owners and operators. When a green flashing light can be seen, it means the output is on with a load under one amp. A solid green light indicates that the output is on, but there is a load of between one to 10 amps.

However, an amber light tells users that the output is on with a load between 10 to 15 amps. A flashing red light means the output is off and has detected the voltage to be under 12.1V, while a solid red light means the output is off and has detected the voltage to be over 12.1V.

“The BVA allows the use of an onboard battery for aftermarket accessories such as telematics, and it turns off when batteries reach low voltages but before any damage has been done,” Mat says. “As a result, this protects the primary investment function which is critical to income. When fitting aftermarket equipment it is important to ensure that even when the equipment is not being used, products don’t flatten your battery. Products such as telematics are always reporting, and even when idle will draw power continuously and will flatten a battery if it sits long enough.”