Pool School, Pool Lifts
Pool Lift Battery, Maintenance and Winter Storage
How to charge, swap, test and store a pool lift battery, what fails first, and how to put a lift away for the winter, by manufacturer.
Charge a pool lift battery every day the pool is open and keep a second charged pack ready to swap: a lift sitting dead in open hours is treated as no lift. Each week, clean the battery and control box contacts and coat them with dielectric grease. Each month, inspect the actuator, bolts and seat. Once a year, run a load test. For winter, charge the battery, store it indoors on its charger (S.R. Smith gives 41F to 104F), cap the empty anchor and cover any lift left on the deck. Batteries last 2 to 3 years by S.R. Smith's figure, 3 to 4 by Spectrum's.
The daily routine: charge, swap, test
Charge the battery each day the pool opens. S.R. Smith, Spectrum and Aqua Creek all ask for it. Aqua Creek wants the pack on its wall charger any time the lift is idle, and Spectrum says to charge daily even on days nobody rides.
- Keep a spare. Buy a second 24 V pack and keep it charging. When the first runs low, swap it; do not wait out a recharge. At a public pool, a lift sitting dead in open hours is treated as no lift at all. ADA pool lift requirements explains the rule.
- Charge indoors. Every battery lift we carry runs on a sealed 24 V pack that lifts off the control box. Its charger plugs into an ordinary 110 V outlet indoors, in a dry room, and never lives on the deck.
- Run a test cycle. Raise and lower the empty seat before the first rider. Aqua Creek asks for one before every use.
- Rinse with fresh water. Spectrum's rule: hose water only. Never pool water, never a pressure washer.
- Never run it flat. S.R. Smith says its LiftOperator cannot be overcharged, and warns against draining the battery completely.
- Lock the controls. A wired handset stays on the control box. Spectrum's wireless remote is the piece that goes missing. A lock, or S.R. Smith's activation key, stops the lift being used as a ride.
Pool lift batteries by manufacturer
Each manufacturer counts its own way. S.R. Smith counts lifts per charge at the rider's weight; Spectrum counts them with 350 lb in the seat. Read each row as that manufacturer's number, not as a contest.
| Manufacturer | Battery | Lifts per charge | Charging | When to replace | Remote and controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.R. Smith | LiftOperator, 24 V. New style 1001495; old style 100-2000 for lifts made earlier than January 2012; 1001495-BC-R for California | 30 to 40, depending on the rider; the spec sheet prints 30 | Up to 12 hours; cannot be overcharged | 2 to 3 years | Battery level lights on the LiftOperator; an activation key is an option |
| Spectrum Aquatics | 24 V pack; a push button switch turns it off | About 90, rated at 350 lb | 12 hours the first time, then about 4; every day | 3 to 4 years, or 500 to 800 charges (about 20,000 lifts) | Wireless, on a CR2032 coin cell good for about 2 years; reprogram after a new cell; emergency rocker on the receiver |
| Aqua Creek | Linak 24 V, two piece | No figure found | Overnight; store it on the wall charger | Actuators and electronics: replace at 5 years in service | Wired 2 button handset that beeps when the battery runs low |
| Global Pool Products | TiMotion 24 V, T5068-2 | No figure found | Charger with AC adapter, T5068-17 | See the manual; the battery carries a 1 year warranty | See the manual |
| Aquatic Access | None: the lift runs on water pressure, 35 to 70 psi | Not applicable | None | Not applicable | No remote and no motor |
Two Global parts get confused. Global's lineup names a charging station, T5068-3. The charger with AC adapter we list is T5068-17. They are separate parts: match the one your lift came with. The T5068-2 battery serves the Commercial, Legend, Superior, Proformance and Rotational lifts.
Testing a pack. Aqua Creek's test: a healthy battery manages at least 15 cycles with nobody in the seat and reads 24 to 28 V on a meter. Spectrum's capacity light runs green, amber, red. S.R. Smith's LiftOperator lights a service LED once the battery has been swapped 120 times, roughly every 4 months, and keeps a diagnostic log you read over USB.
Order the spare with the lift; it is the add on nearly every buyer needs. What a pool lift costs and what installing one takes lists the rest of a complete order. Every battery and charger: pool lift batteries.
What fails, in the order the manuals list it
- A dead or weak battery. Every troubleshooting table starts here. Swap in the charged spare before anything else.
- Corroded contacts on the battery and the control box. Aqua Creek blames most electronic faults on the connections or a bad battery. Spectrum's warranty excludes damage from skipped maintenance and gives greasing the battery contacts as its example.
- A worn actuator. Riders who drop hard into the seat, or stand on it, load the actuator sideways. Aqua Creek recommends replacing it at 5 years.
- The control box or receiver. When S.R. Smith's checks run out, its answer is a new control box. Spares: pool lift parts.
- The remote: lost, locked, or a dead coin cell.
- Welds on a recalled lift. CPSC recall 16-063 covered about 1,840 S.R. Smith units from 2013 to 2015, Splash! lifts and PAL Hi/Lo and Spa lifts, with a free replacement base or mast. Buying one of those used? Check the serial number first.
- Corrosion and finish. No lift warranty covers corrosion, fading, chipping or chemical damage. A salt pool can void a stainless warranty; Spectrum offers 316L stainless for salt water.
- A lift that never fit. If the seat cannot reach the water, or sit 16 in back from the edge, no maintenance fixes it. That is why S.R. Smith will not take an order without a Deck Profile Sheet. Which pool lift fits your pool covers the numbers.
Off season storage and winterizing, step by step
No manufacturer publishes a winterizing page, so here is what their manuals add up to, in order. The ADA lets you take the lift off the deck whenever the pool is closed, overnight or for the season.
- Charge the battery full. Spectrum asks for a full charge before storage.
- Bring the battery inside. Keep it on its charger in a climate controlled room; S.R. Smith and Aqua Creek both say so. S.R. Smith's range is 41F to 104F, so a garage that drops below 41F is too cold.
- On a Spectrum pack, press the off switch. It holds a charge for about 3 months. That is the only shelf figure any manufacturer gives, so recharge before it runs out if the pool stays closed longer.
- Rinse, dry and grease. Fresh water over the frame and seat, then dielectric grease on the battery and control box contacts.
- Lift it off the anchor, or cover it. A Splash! rolls off its anchor on S.R. Smith's steel caddy, 400-0000. A lift that stays in place gets a cover sized for its model.
- Cap the empty anchor. An open sleeve is a hole in the deck someone will step in. Global makes a square anchor cap, PGLCBP-11, and Aqua Creek makes anchor caps too. Anchors: pool lift anchors.
- In spring, reverse it. Charge, reinstall, run a test cycle, and start a new log sheet. Opening week suits Aqua Creek's yearly load test.
Printable pool lift maintenance log
Print one sheet a week and keep every sheet: together they are your record that the lift was kept working. Tick the day each task is done and add your initials. Week of: ______________
| How often | Task | Whose instruction | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | Battery charged overnight; spare on the charger | S.R. Smith, Spectrum, Aqua Creek | |||||||
| Daily | Test cycle with the seat empty, before the first rider | Aqua Creek | |||||||
| Daily | Charged battery on the lift for all open hours | ADA | |||||||
| Daily | Rinse with fresh water; no pressure washer | Spectrum | |||||||
| Daily | Remote or handset present and working | Ours | |||||||
| Weekly | Clean the battery and control box contacts; coat with dielectric grease | Spectrum | |||||||
| Weekly | Passivate the stainless steel | Spectrum | |||||||
| Weekly | Test the emergency stop | Spectrum | |||||||
| Monthly | Look over the actuator, bolts, seat and footrest | Spectrum | |||||||
| Monthly | Lubricate the points your manual names | Spectrum | |||||||
| Monthly | Service LED off (lights after 120 battery swaps) | S.R. Smith | |||||||
| Annual | Load test | Aqua Creek | |||||||
| Annual | Battery age checked against the replacement figure in the table above | S.R. Smith, Spectrum | |||||||
| Annual | Remote coin cell, replaced about every 2 years | Spectrum |
Covers
A cover shields the seat, the actuator boot and the control box from sun and rain. Lift warranties exclude fading and weather damage, and that is what a cover stops. Covers are cut by model and color, and each cover page lists the lifts it fits.
For a Splash!, PAL or PAL2: S.R. Smith's tan lift cover, 920-5000T. For a Scout 2 or Scout Excel: Aqua Creek's gray solar lift cover, F-450SSC-G, which fits with a solar charging panel in place, as the Revolution's F-720SSC covers do. The Aqua Creek universal solar panel charger, F-SLR, is a 12 V, 10 watt panel; its page lists the lifts it serves. S.R. Smith also makes a LiftOperator control box cover. Every cover: pool lift covers.
California: CEC batteries and chargers
Since January 2, 2018, a lift shipped to California has needed a battery charging system that meets the California Energy Commission's rules. S.R. Smith's answer is its BC parts: control box, battery and charger. They do not swap with standard LiftOperator parts in either direction. The BC battery is 1001495-BC-R; the standard new style battery is 1001495. Read the serial number on your lift before you order a battery or a charger.
Products in this guide
Questions
How do I store a pool lift for the winter?
Take the battery off, charge it full and keep it indoors on its charger. S.R. Smith gives 41F to 104F for the battery. Rinse the lift with fresh water and grease the contacts, then roll it off its anchor or leave it in place under a cover made for the model. Cap the empty anchor sleeve so nobody steps in it. The ADA allows removing the lift whenever the pool is closed. In spring, charge, reinstall and run a test cycle before the first rider.
Will a standard S.R. Smith battery work on a California lift?
No. Since January 2, 2018, lifts shipped to California carry a California Energy Commission compliant charging system, and S.R. Smith's BC control box, battery and charger do not interchange with the standard LiftOperator parts. A BC lift takes the 1001495-BC-R battery. The standard new style battery is the 1001495, and the old style 100-2000 fits lifts made earlier than January 2012. Read the serial number on the lift before ordering any of them.
How do I test a pool lift battery?
Use Aqua Creek's test: a healthy pack manages at least 15 cycles with nobody in the seat and reads 24 to 28 V on a meter. S.R. Smith's LiftOperator shows the charge on its battery level lights, and a Spectrum pack has a capacity light that runs green, amber, red. A pack that falls short after a full overnight charge is the first suspect when a lift slows or stops. Swap in the spare before you call for service.
My pool lift will not move with a charged battery. What should I check?
The contacts first. Lift the pack off and look for corrosion on the battery and control box terminals; clean them and coat them with dielectric grease, which Spectrum asks for weekly. Aqua Creek blames most electronic faults on the connections or a bad battery. Then the remote: a wireless Spectrum remote needs a live CR2032 cell and reprogramming after a change, and a locked or keyed control will not respond. After that, S.R. Smith's last step is a new control box.
When should a pool lift battery be replaced?
S.R. Smith says 2 to 3 years for its LiftOperator pack. Spectrum says 3 to 4 years, or 500 to 800 charges, roughly 20,000 lifts. The two are measured differently, so they are not one figure. Charging every day the pool is open and never letting the pack run flat is what reaches those years, and a pack stored flat over the winter is the one that fails in spring. Aqua Creek gives no year figure; its test is 15 no load cycles from a healthy pack, and that is the test to run each spring.
Do I need a second pool lift battery?
At a public pool, yes. The lift has to work for all open hours, and a lift with a flat battery is treated as no lift. Keep the spare on the charger and swap packs rather than wait for a recharge, which takes up to 12 hours on an S.R. Smith and about 4 on a Spectrum after its first charge. Order it with the lift: a second battery is the most common add on.
How often does a pool lift need maintenance?
Every day, week, month and year. Daily: charge, test cycle and a fresh water rinse. Weekly: clean and grease the contacts, passivate the stainless and test the emergency stop (Spectrum). Monthly: look over the actuator, bolts, seat and footrest and lubricate as the manual says (Spectrum). Yearly: a load test (Aqua Creek). S.R. Smith's control also lights a service LED once the battery has been swapped 120 times. The log on this page puts all of it on one sheet.