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Posts: 430
| During the winter monts while boat is winterized do you
-Remove batteries and keep in warmer place and charge occasionaly?
-Leave in boat and charge occasionaly?
-Do you leave in boat and keep charger pluged in all the time?
Thanks
Chris |
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Posts: 517
Location: WI | Take out of the boat and leave in warmer place plugged into charger. |
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Posts: 105
| Leave in boat which is in covered in an insulated garage and occasionally plug it into the battery charger/maintainer. |
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Posts: 1187
| Pull the starting battery and put in the basement on a couple chunks of 2x4, and charge every 6 weeks or so. Trolling motor batteries get a full charge, disconnect the negative lead, and sleep in the boat all winter. Would pull them, but they are a major pain to get to, and doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. Standard batteries lasted 10 years doing that. |
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Posts: 375
| My boat is in heated garage over the winter. I keep batteries fully charged (every 6 weeks or so). |
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Posts: 2280
Location: Chisholm, MN | Typically I'm lazy and don't pull them. They sit in the boat in the insulated garage. Stays in the 20s all winter. I don't think it has hurt them. |
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| Kirby Budrow - 11/16/2022 12:18 PM
Typically I'm lazy and don't pull them. They sit in the boat in the insulated garage. Stays in the 20s all winter. I don't think it has hurt them.
The owner of the shop where I have my boat serviced told me to disconnect, make sure it is fully charged going into storage. He stated that a fully charged battery should not have an issue with being in the cold. But he did stress they need to be charged. I have taken the starting motor out and stored in heated shop but the trolling motor batteries are a pain to get out as someone else mentioned. |
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Posts: 1677
Location: Mt. Zion, IL | Boat is stored outside under a cover. Charge every 4 weeks and leave the batteries in the boat. Last batteries lasted 7 years doing this. |
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Posts: 608
Location: S.W. WI | TCESOX - 11/16/2022 7:50 AM
Standard batteries lasted 10 years doing that.
My "standard" batteries last me 2 years. never 3.
If I don't replace- they will get weak and not last a full day in 3rd year just past warranty. I assume you don't fish 3 days a week like I do ?
p.s. I have tried several brands with same results, not high end batteries. also use a "good" MinnKota charger and heavy cord as advised. still....... same.
also, I remember asking a battery guy about if tha'ts normal. thouhjt I should get more life. I think he said something like they only have so many charge/drain cycles in them. so i accept it as a 2 year routine.
Edited by Rudedog 11/17/2022 1:00 PM
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| I average about 3 days a week. Living on the lake and having my boat on a lift, pretty easy to go out whenever I feel like it. My last trolling motor batteries were cheap fleet farm and they lasted six years. But, I wonder if the key is what kind of use they get as opposed to frequency. If the wind is really kicking, I seldom go out. Someone fishing in heavy winds is going to put more stress on the batteries I would think.
I actually was surprised at the age of my batteries when I replaced this spring after noticing them wearing down after a relatively short day of fishing. I thought 3, maybe 4 years but the date of sale showed otherwise. |
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Posts: 105
| You know if a guy wanted to get really aggressive, you could just replace the standard lead acid batteries every year under warranty. They all come with a 12 month warranty. You'd just have to have the will power to pull it, haul it in, replace it, and then get it back in the boat every year.
Edited by gimruis 11/17/2022 1:59 PM
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Posts: 608
Location: S.W. WI | gimruis - 11/17/2022 1:58 PM
You know if a guy wanted to get really aggressive, you could just replace the standard lead acid batteries every year under warranty. They all come with a 12 month warranty. You'd just have to have the will power to pull it, haul it in, replace it, and then get it back in the boat every year.
I have tried that, but they pass the load test after just one year, no need for warranty to replace. |
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| I did find a graph that show expected life of deep cycle lead acid batteries. They state that on average they last 4 to 8 years, but life is dependent on depth of discharge prior to charge.
For example, battery that has a depth of discharge of 100%, it will only have recharge life of <150. Same battery that has a depth of discharge of 50% will have recharge life of between 350 and 450 times. Less depth of discharge, greater the number of charges it will accept.
Edited by North of 8 11/17/2022 3:59 PM
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Posts: 1187
| Rudedog - 11/17/2022 9:24 AM
TCESOX - 11/16/2022 7:50 AM
Standard batteries lasted 10 years doing that.
My "standard" batteries last me 2 years. never 3.
If I don't replace- they will get weak and not last a full day in 3rd year just past warranty. I assume you don't fish 3 days a week like I do ?
p.s. I have tried several brands with same results, not high end batteries. also use a "good" MinnKota charger and heavy cord as advised. still....... same.
also, I remember asking a battery guy about if tha'ts normal. thouhjt I should get more life. I think he said something like they only have so many charge/drain cycles in them. so i accept it as a 2 year routine.
I would say the first six years, I did fish multiple times a week. The last four years, about half as much. I think what North just said, about depth of discharge, is probably the reason. I just replaced my trolling batteries this fall, as they failed to hold a charge on me. They were Fleet Farm batteries, and I kind of freaked, when I saw the date etched on them, and realized it was ten years. Replaced them with the same new batteries. The other thing is that I am religious about immediately plugging them in, as soon as I am done fishing. I certainly don't expect to get 10 years out of the new ones. |
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Posts: 608
Location: S.W. WI | North of 8 - 11/17/2022 3:54 PM
I did find a graph that show expected life of deep cycle lead acid batteries. They state that on average they last 4 to 8 years, but life is dependent on depth of discharge prior to charge.
For example, battery that has a depth of discharge of 100%, it will only have recharge life of <150. Same battery that has a depth of discharge of 50% will have recharge life of between 350 and 450 times. Less depth of discharge, greater the number of charges it will accept.
Frustrating. ...... There is so much differing info out about battery care.
This above is exactly opposite of what I have read and heard from "Battery Guy".
I have been advised many times to not charge after every little use, run it down a ways and charge then. However, I never run down close to 100%. I also Do not leave sit un-charged, but don't charge after a few hours use. So I go out fishing morning and evening, then I charge overnight.
Maybe I should charge midday and overnight, exactly as I was advised Not to do.
Guess its worth a try.
Edited by Rudedog 11/18/2022 11:22 AM
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| Rudedog - 11/18/2022 11:21 AM
North of 8 - 11/17/2022 3:54 PM
I did find a graph that show expected life of deep cycle lead acid batteries. They state that on average they last 4 to 8 years, but life is dependent on depth of discharge prior to charge.
For example, battery that has a depth of discharge of 100%, it will only have recharge life of <150. Same battery that has a depth of discharge of 50% will have recharge life of between 350 and 450 times. Less depth of discharge, greater the number of charges it will accept.
Frustrating. ...... There is so much differing info out about battery care.
This above is exactly opposite of what I have read and heard from "Battery Guy".
I have been advised many times to not charge after every little use, run it down a ways and charge then. However, I never run down close to 100%. I also Do not leave sit un-charged, but don't charge after a few hours use. So I go out fishing morning and evening, then I charge overnight.
Maybe I should charge midday and overnight, exactly as I was advised Not to do.
Guess its worth a try.
I understand your frustration, I have also seen conflicting advice. I typically plug in the charger after every outing, regardless of length. But not really doing that based on solid, scientific data.
I did have one thought, is there any chance your trolling motor batteries are experiencing too much vibration? I have read vibration is the biggest killer of batteries. In addition to hold downs, I cut a couple pieces of the rubber mesh designed to hold throw rugs in place and put under mine on the "it can't hurt theory" to dampen vibration. |
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Posts: 480
Location: Northern Illinois | All that I have read and heard about recharging supports charging lead acid batteries after every use. The reason for fully discharging a battery before recharging is so that it doesn't develop a memory. That doesn't happen to my knowledge to lead acid batteries, unlike NiCad, NiMH, and some LI batteries. |
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Posts: 105
| Rudedog - 11/17/2022 3:48 PM
gimruis - 11/17/2022 1:58 PM
You know if a guy wanted to get really aggressive, you could just replace the standard lead acid batteries every year under warranty. They all come with a 12 month warranty. You'd just have to have the will power to pull it, haul it in, replace it, and then get it back in the boat every year.
I have tried that, but they pass the load test after just one year, no need for warranty to replace.
Well I assumed that a one year old (or less) battery would be perfectly fine. My point is that you could still do it every year and then you'd always have a new battery under warranty. |
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| gimruis - 11/19/2022 3:28 PM
Rudedog - 11/17/2022 3:48 PM
gimruis - 11/17/2022 1:58 PM
You know if a guy wanted to get really aggressive, you could just replace the standard lead acid batteries every year under warranty. They all come with a 12 month warranty. You'd just have to have the will power to pull it, haul it in, replace it, and then get it back in the boat every year.
I have tried that, but they pass the load test after just one year, no need for warranty to replace.
Well I assumed that a one year old (or less ) battery would be perfectly fine. My point is that you could still do it every year and then you'd always have a new battery under warranty.
His point is that if passes the load test, they are not going exchange for a new battery. |
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Posts: 790
Location: North Central IL USA | Never had the desire to carry 3 batteries down into my basement then back up in the Spring. They stay outside in the boat in my driveway. I plug in the charger every couple weeks. Can get to -25 here. No worries. |
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Posts: 105
| North of 8 - 11/19/2022 3:48 PM
His point is that if passes the load test, they are not going exchange for a new battery.
Ahhh gotcha. I didn't realize they did a load test on it when you brought it back under warranty. |
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