Posts: 3479
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
As stated above, most of the chargers out there that are on-board mounted are 3 phase chargers and when the batteries are full, they go into a maintenance type of mode which is similar to a trickle charge.
The main issue that I believe everyone should be watchful for is potential failure of the charger. If the charger somehow fails when you leave it plugged in for extended periods of time, you run the risk of overcharging, which can be a very very bad situation...
The suggestion I have always followed is to get the batteries charged and unplug. Very little drainage will happen, unless something is left on.
For winter, charge them up, and unhook the batteries from everything except the charger leads. Then, once a month, plug in the charger for a few hours and everything will stay fully charged through the winter (even through the coldest of temperatures) and you should be good to go. When the batteries are good, they should not lose their charge over winter...especially if nothing is hooked up to them.
Steve |
