Winter storage Battries Etc ????

[kjmn]

I hate to start thinking about this but it happens every year..Any way I used to pull my T/M battries but I bought a new Lund this year ,not the easiest boat to take the battries out of, if I disconnect them and leave them in the boat.From Nov 5th till mid april. How do you store your battries???? In northern Minn.


Thanks KJMN

[Jimmy Jig]

With no power in storage building mine are in the basement. I check them in mid winter and recharge if needed.

[REW]

KJ,
If your batteries are in good shape, all that you need to do is to insure that the batteries are fully charged, with correct fluid levels.
Then, to be sure that you don't get a circuit discharge, disconnect all wires from at least one battery terminal.

Forget about the batteries until you pull the boat out of storage.

If you do have the misadventure to find that your batteries have discharged and frozen, it is because the batteries had a problem and became discharged. That is why it is always a good idea to keep the bateries in a plastic battery box in the boat.

If the batteries are in reasonable shape, there will be no issue over leaving the batteries over the winter. If you find that they didn't make it until spring, it was because they had a problem and were in need of replacement.

If you suuspect that your batteries are in poor shape and you are planning on replacing the batteries, pull them in the fall and dispose of them.

Come spring, purchase new batteries with a current date code of manufacture. You don't want to purchase batteries which have been manufactured earlier than a month or so before your purchase. You want to get the maximum number of months from your battery purchase. No sense in buying a battery that has been partially used up by sitting on a warehouse shelf.

Take care
REW


p.s.
The colder temperature the batteries are stored, the less the batteries will self discharge. The only thing is that if the batteries become discharged for some reason, and then are stored in temps below freezing, the water will freeze in the batteries, expand and break the battery case. i.e. ruin the battery. However, as long as the batteries are in shape such that they hold a charge, the charged electroylete will not freeze, not expand and not hurt the battery.

Conversely, the hotter the storage temperature of batteries, the quicker the batteries will self discharge.

[lund115]

I put mine in the basement on wood. Why?? It's what I was told and what the old man did. For the little effort it takes to take them out of the boat and put in the basement, its worth it for me to just be safe. I already hate to spend a few hundred bucks every few years on batteries, but expecially if I was to lazy to take them down stairs.
Make sure the fluids are good, and I ussually check them every month to make sure they stay half charged.

[Stacker1]

Lund guy

Our dads did alot of things that we are finding out now, well, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do, or things have changed and we must change our habits as well. In the old days storing batteries the way you do was the norm. Today, you do not want that battery in a warm place or do you want to hook a chargger to them and check them every month. Here is the reason. When batteries are fully charged and put in cold storage, the battery goes dormant. They do not continue to work, or be active to the degree that takes away its life. when they are active they use up there life. When you hook up a charger, you WAKE it up and it works again. A good example is, leave your car parked for a week in the winter. When you try to start it the engine barely rolls over, but after you try, leave sit for 30 seconds, try again and it rolls faster and starts. YOU WOKE IT UP. I dont know if this makes any sense but you will love this. You are not being LAZY by charging and disconecting your batteries and leaving them in the boat, you are actually being thrifty. Thrifty for the reason that the batteries will last longer and may give you 3 years instead of 2. Never hook up a on board charger all winter either. It will kill batteries in 1/2 its normal live span.

[CI_Guy]

A friend at work did his own test several years ago.
2 batteries from a 24v trolling motor.
Bat. A was stored in a closet in his house for the winter.
Bat. B was stored in his boat in an unheated garage.
Every spring Bat, A was more discharged and needed a little water in the cells.
Bat. A died in the middle of its 4th season, while Bat. B was used by another fisherman for 2 years in his ice fishing house.
I know 2 batteries are not enough for a scientific study but I was impressed that the cold stored battery lasted 50% longer than the warm stored one.

[darin]

I used to bring mine in all the time with the old boat. Put them on wood shelves too. Then a buddy of mine who builds these huge massive electric motors for big companies said that setting them on concrete made no difference at all in terms of draining... All the guys I know who catch fish, leave their batteries in the boat and disconnect all of the leads. That's got to be why they catch more fish than me, so I'm gonna try it this year!!

[nervous knotter]

Why do you need to disconnect the leads? I left mine on last winter and noticed no difference. Nothing seemed to draw off of them.Thanks

[boat nut]

A discharged battery will freeze if left in freezing temperatures, while a fully charged battery will survive -80F. If anything connected to a battery has any draw whatsoever, over a couple of months, that slight draw will discharge the battery, and...you know.

[REW]

Nervous,
If you are 100% certain, that you have no current draw from your batteries, there is no need to disconnect anything.
Just insure that all switches are in the off position, charge the batteries, insure that the fluid levels are correct and you are good to go.

However, if there is the slightest chance that there could be a current drain -= however small - disconnect all wires from at least one terminal of each battery.

Over time, a very small drain can discharge your battery, resulting in the battery freezing and being ruined.

-------------------------

With respect to those folks who store batteries in a basement --
BAD IDEA


Here is a true story from my neighbor.

My neighbor always did what several have suggested, i.e. charge the batteries, take them out of the boat and store them in the basement.
My neighbor did that every year.
He stored them on the floor in his laundry room, which was the only floor in the house with a bare concrete floor. He didn't want any possible damage to flooring in other parts of the house from contacting the battery.

One year, he and his wife also had a new little puppy.
Again, because the only spot in the house which had an unfinished floor was in the laundry room, he and his wife kept their puppy tied up to keep his accidents from spreading to other parts of the house.

One day, when both he and his wife were at work, the puppy got curious and began to move around the laundry room. He jumped over the open topped battery and the chain with which he was tied came across both battery terminals.
The result was fatal.
The chain instantly turned red, as the battery became a battery and discharged instantly. During the quick discharge, the battery exploded, killing the dog, and the red hot chain ignited the hydrogen fumes from the explosion.
The resulting fire, killed the puppy and destroyed half the house before it was finally extinguised.

This was all because the fellow wanted his battery stored in a nice warm "safe" environment.

Batteries should NOT be stored in a house.

Take care
REW

[rebs]

I know guys that leave them in the boat and hook up a battery maintainer for the winter, this way they are always topped off to full charge.

[lund115]

Well there you go, I've always took mine inside and never had an issue, but something to think about. I just hate charging up the battery and leaving it in an unheated garage that can get below 0 in the winter.
It's hard to change old habbits, but maybe I'll try it this year.

[Derwood]

Interesting story. A fellow from bassboatcentral.com sent this link to me... I read it pretty quickly, but among many things, it did say you shouldn't store them below 32 degrees. I was scanning it hoping to find something about "which brand of batteries were best for what applications...

http://marine-electronics.net/techarticle/battery_faq/b_faq.htm#1

[boat nut]

I didn't read the article thoroughly either. I did note that it states that cold temperatures reduce self discharge, and that electrolyte in a fully charged battery will not freeze 'till -75F. Doing the math, I will continue to store my fully charged batteries in my unheated garage in Saskatchewan through the winter. I assume I will continue to bring them out in the spring requiring little to no charging, and in perfect health. Been doing it for 15 years now.