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[QUOTE]Shep - 5/2/2012  7:49 AM

"Unless you take all your batteries out of the boat when it's in Winter storage, and then place them on a trickle charger, they are going to discharge."

This is simply not true. In fact, the cold temps slow down the rate of self discharge, assuming a fully charged battery, and no drain on it. Before I had this house, I kept my boats outside in the winter. Fully charge the battery, disconnect the cables, and put it to bed for the winter. Come back 3 months later, and the batteries were nearly fully charged. Kept them plugged in during the summer after every trip, and I have had batteries last over 5 years.

Also, Optima are not Gel-Cell batteries. They are AGM, Absorbed Glass Mat, and the electrolyte is Sulfuric acid and water, same as a wet-cell lead-acid battery. They are still considered "wet-cell" technology. They are good batteries, and have some positive features over the traditional batteries I use. But, IMO, they don't offer the same value to me.[/QUOTE]

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Shep

Posted 5/2/2012 7:49 AM (#557289 - in reply to #557184)
Subject: Re: Starting batteries?

Posts: 5874

"Unless you take all your batteries out of the boat when it's in Winter storage, and then place them on a trickle charger, they are going to discharge."

This is simply not true. In fact, the cold temps slow down the rate of self discharge, assuming a fully charged battery, and no drain on it. Before I had this house, I kept my boats outside in the winter. Fully charge the battery, disconnect the cables, and put it to bed for the winter. Come back 3 months later, and the batteries were nearly fully charged. Kept them plugged in during the summer after every trip, and I have had batteries last over 5 years.

Also, Optima are not Gel-Cell batteries. They are AGM, Absorbed Glass Mat, and the electrolyte is Sulfuric acid and water, same as a wet-cell lead-acid battery. They are still considered "wet-cell" technology. They are good batteries, and have some positive features over the traditional batteries I use. But, IMO, they don't offer the same value to me.