Winter battery storage

[LaqueRatt]

A battery as most of you probably know loses a percentage of it's charge when it sits. If it loses enough or goes dead that battery can freeze. That usually will kill it for good. A charged battery won't freeze. The question is will it hold enough charge over the cold months to not freeze? Most likely it will. I've also recently revived a dead battery that surely froze over a cold winter and it now works again. Strange devices batteries.

I've had mixed luck with trickle chargers and no longer use them. No real reason to charge a battery continuously and if the trickle charger messes up it can make the battery fume and lose electrolyte through evaporation. Which also can kill it. Especially if the cells become exposed to air. So what I do, at least with my bike, is every couple months or so I throw a trickle on it for a few hours.

 

[Still Afloat]

Yeah, yeah, i know all about Led Zepplie, LOL ... but you're forgetting about the OTHER hydrogen mix gases generated ...

Hydrogen sulfide being just one, it is heavier than air, highly toxic, and extremely flammable.

Whatever, people are free to do what they want.

Yes, hydrogen sulfide is flammable but, I’m not that worried about it with reasonable ventilation. If the charger is correctly installed and set-up for the battery type the battery should not be overcharged so outgassing is minimized.

Anyway, I think we both agree that long term continuous charging is not ideal. Just for different reasons. You don’t think it’s safe and I don’t think it’s good for AGMs.

 

[airshot]

Well, it didn’t work so well for me last winter. I’m pretty sure that I killed a pair of 110 Ah AGMs leaving them on the onboard charger’s trickle mode for six months.

When you consider commercial applications like a computer server UPS, they will do a maintenance charge every 30 days or so.

Trickle charger is different from a maintence charger, the " Battery Tender" models that I use are rated both trickle/ maintainer. The maintainer is the critical part as it cycles the battery to keep buildup from forming on the plates, if there is a small amount of buildup to start, the maintence cycle cleans it off. Been using mine for over 15 years with no issues.

 

[Still Afloat]

I’ve got a few battery tenders. They work great for my cranking batteries.

 

[gillhunter]

I use to remove them. For the last 5-6 years have left them in. I fully charge when I put them to sleep, and charge again mid-winter, and again in spring wake-up. I haven't seen any longevity differences All are LA batteries. I don't like leaving chargers on long term. Voltage spikes/brown outs/lightning etc,, is the main reason.

I've had the same experience. I am in a fairly mild climate.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I use to remove them. For the last 5-6 years have left them in. I fully charge when I put them to sleep, and charge again mid-winter, and again in spring wake-up. I haven't seen any longevity differences All are LA batteries. I don't like leaving chargers on long term. Voltage spikes/brown outs/lightning etc,, is the main reason.

Just for clarity, when I did take the time/effort to bring the battery's inside, never left any on the charger for more than 24 hours. Don't own a trickle charger. So, the only difference was inside vs outside.

I wouldn't think of leaving a charger hooked up, long term, to the boat, with everything hooked up. Today's motors and electronics have too many components that can be wiped out with high voltage spikes.

I always have all the seats and compartments open, during winter storage. Just for good airflow and preventing mold/mildew. The covers I use, are far from fully sealed. Charging a couple times during the winter is not going to create an explosivve environment, in my condtions.

 

[LaqueRatt]

Exploding batteries: More likely in a confined area, but it's happened to me twice. Both randomly with the hood up. I tell you what, it's like a bomb going off. The plastic is sharp like shrapnel and everything within 20' gets coated with acid. I have handled thousands of batteries though. Guess it's inevitable.

 

[airshot]

Just for clarity, when I did take the time/effort to bring the battery's inside, never left any on the charger for more than 24 hours. Don't own a trickle charger. So, the only difference was inside vs outside.

I wouldn't think of leaving a charger hooked up, long term, to the boat, with everything hooked up. Today's motors and electronics have too many components that can be wiped out with high voltage spikes.

I always have all the seats and compartments open, during winter storage. Just for good airflow and preventing mold/mildew. The covers I use, are far from fully sealed. Charging a couple times during the winter is not going to create an explosivve environment, in my condtions.

I understand your concern for long term hookup, but it is very easy to unhook one terminal so there is no backup into your system. As far as added life...my small wheel chair deep cycle battery is over 10 years old and still holds a charge like new. It has been on a maintenece charger its entire life when not in use. My current boat has batteries from previous owner, but the boat before had batteries that were over 6 years old, still holding a charge like new, sold them with the boat last year and new owner used them all season long. Yep, stayed on a maintenence charger all winter long for all their lives while I had them. If you have electrical issues in your area, I wouldn't blame you for concern, but we have never had any issues so I feel comfortable leaving them on.

 

[airshot]

Exploding batteries: More likely in a confined area, but it's happened to me twice. Both randomly with the hood up. I tell you what, it's like a bomb going off. The plastic is sharp like shrapnel and everything within 20' gets coated with acid. I have handled thousands of batteries though. Guess it's inevitable.

I hear ya, been there, not a pretty picture, lucky no one was hurt !! According to battery mfgr, it was an internal short, probably should have had battery tested before hooking up to a charger.....
In regards to a maintainer type charger....they do not constantly charge, they are not a trickle charger however they do use a trickle charge when restoring a battery. According to the battery engineer at local battery plant, they actually drain down slightly then recharge the vattery to keep buildup from forming on plates. When a battery sits idle for long periods of time, the buildup occurs which down the road can cause issues. I am sure it is much more technical than my brief explanation, but talking to the battery experts, they highly encourage a maintainer type charger for long term non use. They have worked well for me.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

I understand your concern for long term hookup, but it is very easy to unhook one terminal so there is no backup into your system. As far as added life...my small wheel chair deep cycle battery is over 10 years old and still holds a charge like new. It has been on a maintenece charger its entire life when not in use. My current boat has batteries from previous owner, but the boat before had batteries that were over 6 years old, still holding a charge like new, sold them with the boat last year and new owner used them all season long. Yep, stayed on a maintenence charger all winter long for all their lives while I had them. If you have electrical issues in your area, I wouldn't blame you for concern, but we have never had any issues so I feel comfortable leaving them on.

I'd disconnect both wires. Lightning can jump to the ground/neutral. Other spikes typically will not. With all the changes to the power grid, I think everyone will be seeing more brown outs, electrical noise, and spikes.

Like you, my methods are based on years of using a proven one. I just recommend doing the above for anyone leaving a charger on long time.

We had a close call with lightning in the last year. It hit the electric line, miles from our home, but decided to blow an insolator on the transfomer in front of our house. It then jumped to the old cable TV coax. It was fried all the way to the house, and we were lucky that it didn't seem to go any further. I was at the desk where the only thing attached, was the cable modem. The insolator blowing was enough to make me jump!

 

[airshot]

I'd disconnect both wires. Lightning can jump to the ground/neutral. Other spikes typically will not. With all the changes to the power grid, I think everyone will be seeing more brown outs, electrical noise, and spikes.

Like you, my methods are based on years of using a proven one. I just recommend doing the above for anyone leaving a charger on long time.

We had a close call with lightning in the last year. It hit the electric line, miles from our home, but decided to blow an insolator on the transfomer in front of our house. It then jumped to the old cable TV coax. It was fried all the way to the house, and we were lucky that it didn't seem to go any further. I was at the desk where the only thing attached, was the cable modem. The insolator blowing was enough to make me jump!

Ouch....glad you came out on the good side !! Been thru 5 tornadoes buy no lightening strikes......yet !

 

[LaqueRatt]

What happened to me was my little trickle/maintenance charger worked good for awhile and then it didn't. I ruined two batteries before I figured it out. All I can say is if you're going to hook your battery to a charger and just leave it, it's a really good idea to check your electrolyte levels. As long as you don't have excessive fluid loss, I'm not so sure you couldn't leave it on a standard charger indefinitely.

 

[taboky]

On my 27' boat, the batteries are disconnected, get charged and live the winter in the boat. They are then topped off at beginning of season. It is how my marina does it, and batteries have been fine last 5 years. On my RV, I bring battery into garage(unheated) and leave it on a battery tender, checking electrolyte levels and add distilled water as necessary. I get about 7 years from RV batteries doing this. The trolling battery in my sons Bass Master is same as my RV battery, so will probably do same. Starting battery will just disconnect, charge and leave be.

 

[thill]

I do not like trickle chargers. I would rather top them off every 6 or 8 weeks. I get outstanding battery life compared to friends who get insecure and are constantly charging their batteries.

I think charger and battery companies push this insecurity to sell more product, but that is just my opinion.

 

[airshot]

I do not like trickle chargers. I would rather top them off every 6 or 8 weeks. I get outstanding battery life compared to friends who get insecure and are constantly charging their batteries.

I think charger and battery companies push this insecurity to sell more product, but that is just my opinion.

A trickle charger is not a maintainer, big difference ! I would never just leave a charger of any type on my batteries over winter, but, I do use a maintainer ! These cycle the battery and keep the crud from building on the plates. My wheel chair deep cycle battery is over 10 years old from being maintained. My 4 yr old trolling batteries last much longer due to a maintainer. To each his own, gotta due what your comfortable with, but been using maintainers since 2000 with great results.

 

[Stand Up]

I use a battery tender. As @airshot explained, these maintainers work exceptionally well. I use them on motorcycle batteries for 10 or more years and have never experienced any difficulties.

 

[Tag]

I understand your concern for long term hookup, but it is very easy to unhook one terminal so there is no backup into your system. As far as added life...my small wheel chair deep cycle battery is over 10 years old and still holds a charge like new. It has been on a maintenece charger its entire life when not in use. My current boat has batteries from previous owner, but the boat before had batteries that were over 6 years old, still holding a charge like new, sold them with the boat last year and new owner used them all season long. Yep, stayed on a maintenence charger all winter long for all their lives while I had them. If you have electrical issues in your area, I wouldn't blame you for concern, but we have never had any issues so I feel comfortable leaving them on.

I have been using a NoCo battery charger/ maintainer and so far in 3 years no issue on AGM .

 

[Still Afloat]

I just put the new boat in storage until May. Pulled the batteries and I”ll hit them with a charger for a day once every few weeks. They will likely charge in a few minutes and then float. I will not leave batteries on a charger 24/7 like I did last winter.

 

[LaqueRatt]

The only legitimate concern is the battery freezing which it won't unless it sits for a long time and ends up nearly dead. Like a year or more. Just make sure it has a full charge on it and really nothing more needs to be done. It you store your boat/battery above freezing absolutely nothing wrong with letting it sit. I appreciate the concerns but people seem to way overthink this.

 

[Still Afloat]

Depends on your circumstances. Winter storage is six months for my larger boat. The batteries would self discharge long before spring fishing.