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Posts: 572
Location: Germantown, WI | I've always pulled my batteries and stored them in my basement over the winter because i have stored boat in a friend's outbuilding. however, this year, i've decided to leave boat in my own garage all winter. My question is how should i store batteries: (by the way live in Milwaukee, WI so it will be cold/ not a heated garage).
1. keep batteries in boat/hooked up and keep charging them all the time
2. keep batteries in boat and hook up to charger evey 2 weeks.
3. do what i've always done and bring them inside
Thanks in advance for opinions.
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Posts: 315
| Just to be sure you might as well take the 15 minutes to pull them fill them with water and bring them inside. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Leaving them in cold storage in the boat, hooked to nothing but the charger, for the past 8-10 years has given me more longevity from my batteries than when I used to bring them in. I'd suspect that due to the fact that the warmer envrons actually drain a battery quicker, so they were actually 'working' a bit harder during winter when I used to store them indoors than the way I do it now, leaving them in the shed, charging them once a month. |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | My boat sits outside covered all winter witht the charger plugged in, no problems by doing it this way for me. Cold here to in the winter in NW Iowa |
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Posts: 134
| My boat is stored in a garage (unheated). I leave the batteries in the boat, but I top them off before storage. Re-charge them in the spring. Unplug the trolling motor from the recepticle. Never had a problem. I use Trojan batteries.
Edited by dh buc 11/8/2010 5:06 PM
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | No need ot bring them in, but I'd recommend a trickle charger or your onboard charger vs just charging them in the spring. |
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Posts: 572
Location: Germantown, WI | Thanks for everyone's info, i think i will leave them in the boat them and use my onboard charger every so often this winter. |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | Hiya,
Note of caution....be sure to check your charger every so often to ensure it is working properly if you plug in for the entire time... Last thing you would want is to go out come spring only to find the charger failed somehow and you have a cracked battery from freezing, or worse yet, a battery that overcharged and sent acid all over the place among other things...
I have hooked up for a few hours once a month to keep the batteries topped off, but I do not keep the charger on the entire time...just don't want to run the risk of having the charger somehow fail... I also unhook all components to the batteries so they are isolated and are not somehow drawn down and run into a bad situation of a frozen battery.
Steve |
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Posts: 582
| I agree with MVS.. i don't trust a charger plugged in all the time. I do however leave my batteries in the boat. I found that they drain slower and last longer outside in the cold all winter. Used to bring them in, and they always needed more of a charge. I just disconnect the leads and put them away charged. |
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Posts: 422
| If a battery hasn't been completely drained throughout the year, since it always got topped off after use all the time, would it be beneficial to drain the battery and then top it off and keep it up during the winter? |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | I live in northern MN where there are many nights of 20 below or colder every winter. My boat stays in an uninsulated garage with holes in the wall that help bring in even more cold air. I've never taken the batteries out during the winter. I'll sometimes put the charger on them once or twice during the winter. But it never takes more than a few minutes before the batteries show a full charge, so even that hasn't been necessary. I just had to get a new starting battery after 9 years. I would say the cold winters with little charging served that battery well.
Aaron |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | 4reukmuskies - 10/27/2010 5:54 PM
If a battery hasn't been completely drained throughout the year, since it always got topped off after use all the time, would it be beneficial to drain the battery and then top it off and keep it up during the winter?
Hiya,
You would not need to drain all the way. Years ago some people felt that lead acid batteries would gain what was referred to as a "memory" where if you didn't drain the battery all the way then recharge, the battery would only be good for the same amount of time it was used at first... Such as using the battery for 1 hour, then recharge...the battery would only be good for one hour's usage thereafter. THAT is not the case. Charge them up, and you are good to go for storage.
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Posts: 422
| Thanks VMS for the info, I will do as I have been doing.. |
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Posts: 25
Location: Shorewood, IL | I also would not trust an onboard charger plugged in for weeks or months on end. A couple years ago I had a problem with a 2 bank onboard charger. (Excuse my lack of exact technical jargon) - one of the banks wouldn't stop charging. Once the charger charges the battery to around 14.4 volts (I think), it is supposed to go into float mode. On mine, it just kept charging the battery.
I knew there was a problem & the next time I plugged in the charger I sat in the boat with a voltmeter connected to the "bad" battery - once it reached around 15 volts I knew something was definitely wrong - I would hate to think what would have happened if it was left plugged in & charging for a couple days/weeks. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | My rig goes into cold storage, I plug the charger in and walk away. I averaged 4 years out of a set of trolling motor batteries I am now getting 5-6 years. But the 16 hour on the water days are fewer than they were. You will not have an issue as long as the batteries are charged from time to time...look at your car battery. |
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Posts: 253
Location: On the water | I also leave my batteries in the boat all winter. I charge them up the last time I use the boat. Put the boat in an unheated garage and recharge in spring when I take the boat out. Thats it. |
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Posts: 298
Location: Not where I want to be! | Check and add water, and be sure to fully charge after adding water. Disconnect from the circuts and leave them in the boat.
A lead acid battery does NOT go dead in the cold. They go DORMANT!! Cold storage slows down the acid lead interaction and ultimately extends life. A battery will discharge at 1% to 2% per day at 80 deg. farienhite with no load.
Been doing this for 25 years!! |
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Posts: 791
Location: North Central IL USA | dward - 10/24/2010 10:42 PM
2. keep batteries in boat and hook up to charger evey 2 weeks.
This is what I do. Boat's covered and stored in my driveway. Gets cold her in far northern Illinois too.
I've even stretched it to 3 or 4 weeks and when I plugged in the charger it didn't take long at all to reach full charge! |
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