There have been gas storage questions, like full, half, or empty tank. What about batteries? I have always removed battery and put on tender indoors because boat would be in "cold storage" (Maine). My mechanic now says to leave battery in boat. If the battery is shot in spring it shows that battery is bad anyway. A good battery will not freeze. I am dubious. Thoughts?
battery in winter
- Thread starter abbott
- Start date
A healthy battery with a decent charge will not freeze under reasonable conditions (above 0 F). In my opinion I would leave the battery(s) in the boat if I could top off that charge every 5-6 weeks or so but pull it if it was to be left without any visits for 4-5 months in a row. With that said I do know many folks who do leave the boat unattended for 3-4 months with no issues on there numerous batteries - some have more than 12 on one boat.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
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I had always stored them indoors and charged them monthly but as time has passed they've gotten bigger and heavier. Well for the last couple of years I leave them in the boat and once a month I plug the boat in for a day to charge the batteries. This has worked just fine and I haven't noticed a difference in the life of the batteries.
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Batteries are on the boat, charger is on as well as bilge heaters.
Pulling batteries is a PITA and in my view gains little.
I used to pull them but last 6 years I have left on boat and no issues either.
They don't freeze and charger will maintain a float charge.
Now if you can't stay plugged in, then you may want to pull them.
Pulling batteries is a PITA and in my view gains little.
I used to pull them but last 6 years I have left on boat and no issues either.
They don't freeze and charger will maintain a float charge.
Now if you can't stay plugged in, then you may want to pull them.
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I use to pull our boat batteries for the off season and take them home for a periodic charge. But after finding out that our marina leaves boat batteries in and simply disconnects the negative wires on the boats they winterize I have not removed our boat batteries over the last 15 years. Most boats in our area are winterized from mid October to early May.
Personally as others have said, I would make sure your boat batteries are fully charged before storage and throw a volt meter on them before launch to see their state of charge. So far my batteries have been fine in the spring.
Mike.
Personally as others have said, I would make sure your boat batteries are fully charged before storage and throw a volt meter on them before launch to see their state of charge. So far my batteries have been fine in the spring.
Mike.
a fully charged battery freezing temp is 90F below. But a dead battery may freeze within possible temperatures .
Batteries do self discharge so I like to charge them every once in a while.
Here is what the experts say::
http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf
Disconnecting a cable does make sense incase some electronics such as an inverter is always in standby. It also may reduce charge leakage.
Batteries do self discharge so I like to charge them every once in a while.
Here is what the experts say::
http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf
Disconnecting a cable does make sense incase some electronics such as an inverter is always in standby. It also may reduce charge leakage.
I used to pull my batteries every year and keep in my shop with a charger attached. The last couple of winters, I have been leaving them on the boat and going down about once a month to plug in my shore power and charger. I also know others who leave them in during the winter and never put a charge on them until spring. I think if the batteries are fully charged during layup and nothing on the boat is drawing them down, they will be fine.
a fully charged battery freezing temp is 90F below. But a dead battery may freeze within possible temperatures .
"Batteries do self discharge so I like to charge them every once in a while.
Here is what the experts say::
http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf
Disconnecting a cable does make sense incase some electronics such as an inverter is always in standby. It also may reduce charge leakage"
Great link Bruce - thank you.
Following that article is a good practice
"Batteries do self discharge so I like to charge them every once in a while.
Here is what the experts say::
http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf
Disconnecting a cable does make sense incase some electronics such as an inverter is always in standby. It also may reduce charge leakage"
Great link Bruce - thank you.
Following that article is a good practice
After 20 years of taking them out, I followed a similiar thread last fall and left them in....between not getting there to plug in and the coldest winter in years my brand new house batteries froze and broke. They are in my garage with a maintainer now....
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Interesting...
We discussed this very topic at length this past weekend at a 12v electrical seminar facilitated by an ABYC accredited, and certified local marine electrician, 25 yrs in the business...
He is/was adamant that no battery ever needs to be removed for winter storage (all our boats are usually away until mid-Apr every year) provided that it's put to bed with a full charge, and the neg cable removed from each neg post to prevent parasitic loss/discharge.
This also assumes full fluids prior to last full charge.
We discussed this very topic at length this past weekend at a 12v electrical seminar facilitated by an ABYC accredited, and certified local marine electrician, 25 yrs in the business...
He is/was adamant that no battery ever needs to be removed for winter storage (all our boats are usually away until mid-Apr every year) provided that it's put to bed with a full charge, and the neg cable removed from each neg post to prevent parasitic loss/discharge.
This also assumes full fluids prior to last full charge.
I used to take them off the boat.
About 5 or 6 years ago I started leaving them on the boat and plugging the charger in for a couple of days every few weeks.
Last two years I just left the charger on all the time since I go in and out of the boat during the winter to putter around with things.
About 5 or 6 years ago I started leaving them on the boat and plugging the charger in for a couple of days every few weeks.
Last two years I just left the charger on all the time since I go in and out of the boat during the winter to putter around with things.
I took mine off the boat until I got to diesel engines and 8D batteries. No way I want to deal with those every season... I usually try to charge them once a month but during a bad winter (or after Sandy when the marina had no power) I don't always do it and they have been fine.
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For the boaters that have their boat lifted out of the water for the winter months and stored on land that do not plan to put a charger on the batteries over the winter months (in our case 6 months under shrink wrap each year) than I would suggest the prudent thing to do is to disconnect your boat batteries negative battery cables to avoid any potential battery drain over your lay up period.