Do You Have to Charge Batteries Over Winter

[WalleyeRanger]

I usually just unhook one post is that good enough????

[chuck]

A battery that isn't charged could break from a hard freeze.
I keep putting a charger on our on & off all winter

[cisco]

I've made a practice of removing batteries at the end of season, give them a full charge, store and charge a couple times during winter, and charge again before re-installing the batteries at the beginning of a new season--usually end of March.

I've had long life from my batteries and believe the above pattern to be the reason.

[REW]

Yes,
If your batteries are good, you should get less than 1-3%discharge per month, with no discharge.

If you happen to have a bad battery, you might have it completely discharge in a month.

I have left my batteries in my boat over the cold MN winters for the last several years. I fully charge the batteries, before storing, top off the fluid. grease all of the connections, and let it sit.

In the spring, I top off the batteries, and generally find that it only takes an hour or so to top off the batteries.

I do make sure that the batteries are in a box. If the worst case happens, and if a battery does go bad, discharges, freezes and breaks the case, I don't want battery acid all over my boat.

I take the position that if a battery doesn't make it through the winter with out recharging, it needs to be replaced. My last set of batteries lasted about 8 years.

take care

REW