Noise Sources in Electric Forklifts and How They Are Controlled

Compared with traditional internal combustion forklifts, electric forklifts have much lower overall operating noise, but unreasonable design, component wear or improper operation will still produce obvious noise that affects the working experience. The first common noise source is the running vibration of the drive motor. When the motor runs at high speed, minor fit deviation between stator and rotor will produce continuous humming noise, which will be further amplified if the motor fixing bracket does not have effective vibration isolation structure. The second noise source comes from the hydraulic system. The pressure pulsation of the hydraulic pump during operation, the impact sound when the reversing valve switches working state, and the turbulent flow of hydraulic oil in the narrow pipeline will all produce different degrees of noise. The third noise source is the friction between walking wheels and the ground. When the forklift drives at high speed on uneven hard ground, the noise will rise significantly especially if the rubber wheel gets aged and hardness increased. The fourth noise source is the impact of transmission parts, including improper meshing clearance of transmission gears and too tight or too loose chain tension that causes regular collision during operation. For effective noise control, we can take targeted measures from multiple links. First, select the drive motor with strict dynamic balance calibration, add high damping shock absorption gaskets between the motor and the vehicle body to cut off the vibration transmission path, and reduce the noise generated by vibration at the source. Second, optimize the hydraulic system structure, use the low pulsation hydraulic pump and buffer type reversing valve, reasonably arrange the pipeline layout to avoid local resonance points, which can effectively reduce the noise of the hydraulic system by more than 10 decibels. Third, maintain the transmission parts regularly, adjust the gear meshing clearance and chain tension to the standard range, replace the aged walking wheels in time, and add professional lubricating oil for transmission parts regularly. At present, many high-quality manufacturers in the industry have made a lot of achievements in the noise reduction field of electric forklifts, and BYD Forklift has adopted a number of mature noise reduction technologies in its product line, making the actual operating noise lower than the national standard limit. If you need more professional customized noise reduction solutions for electric forklifts, or want to know the procurement suggestions of low-noise electric forklifts, you can contact Jianshu New Energy via the email 17399989919@163.com to get one-to-one consulting service. Standardized daily maintenance can also keep the forklift running in low noise state for a long time, help enterprises meet the requirements of occupational health and safety regulations, reduce the work fatigue of operators caused by long-term noise exposure, and effectively improve the overall operation efficiency of the warehouse.