Battery storage

[carldusky]

At the end of the boating season, for years I've been removing the battery from my boats (3 of them) and storing them in my cellar out of the cold freezing weather. It's a backbreaking job now that I'm in my 80's. I don't do the same for my lawn mower tractor battery which is small by comparison----I leave it installed in the tractor that stays in the unheated garage. My question is: what harm would it do if I left the boat batteries installed in their respective boats that are stored indoors but in unheated spaces? I often wonder how many boat owners do what I do.

 

[82rude]

I'm going on my 5th season of leaving my optima blue top in the boat.Stays hooked up,no trickle charger.Boat is tarped up that's it.Doesnt really get too cold here maybe -35 max .-40 or so occasionally .

 

[MH Hawker]

mine stay in the boat

 

[boobie]

As long as the batteries are fully charged when putting the boat away the cold weather shouldn't hurt them.

 

[GA_Boater]

As long as the batteries are fully charged when putting the boat away the cold weather shouldn't hurt them.

Fully charged is the key step. Mine stay in the covered boat out in the weather.

 

[89retta]

Leave mine in also. The only thing I do is pull the negative cable off. We get -30 to -40 temps

 

[82rude]

Leave mine in also. The only thing I do is pull the negative cable off. We get -30 to -40 temps

Wonder how our boats would fair if they were parked on the corner of portage and main in winterpeg,lol.Has to be one of the coldest places on planet earth.Least it was when I lived there in the seventies.

 

[GA_Boater]

Wonder how our boats would fair if they were parked on the corner of portage and main in winterpeg,lol.Has to be one of the coldest places on planet earth.Least it was when I lived there in the seventies.

The heck with the boat - How did you fare? LOL

 

[bruceb58]

Wonder how our boats would fair if they were parked on the corner of portage and main in winterpeg,lol.Has to be one of the coldest places on planet earth.Least it was when I lived there in the seventies.

Fully charged battery is good down to -91?F or -68?C. That good enough?

http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP_DeepCycleBatteryStorage_0512.pdf

 

[jerryjerry05]

I never removed mine when living in Michigan.
​Never did anything until spring when the connections got a good cleaning and a coat of white lithium.
​
​I bought 2 new batteries2006/7 then I moved to Fl. in 2008.
​One lasted 5 years and the other is still good???????
​My wife's Toyota needs a new battery about every 2 and 3/4 years.

​The boats set during the summer months. TOOOO hot to enjoy the ocean.
​Didn't get under 86 all summer.
​The heat is the worst thing for a battery.
2nd is not using it.

 

[89retta]

No Title

Wonder how our boats would fair if they were parked on the corner of portage and main in winterpeg,lol.Has to be one of the coldest places on planet earth.Least it was when I lived there in the seventies.

​Yep it gets pretty cold there. I live in Edmonton and about 6-7 years ago we were the 2nd coldest place on earth one day. It was -50 Celsius it was brutal. This is a pic from yesterday morning. Guess the point is if our batteries are fine in the boat they should be no matter where you live.

 

[bruceb58]

2nd is not using it.

Using it actually wears it out. Every bit of discharge, even if it gets charged afterwards, degrades a battery.

 

[David Young]

Last year I charged my battery in mid winter. This winter I have my boat so wrapped up, I didn't want to go through all the work to do my mid winter recharge. I removed it and have the battery sitting on a rubber car floor mat in my tool shed. I'll keep an eye on the state of charge through the winter. Our winters are pretty mild in East Tennessee

 

[82rude]

AHH the old wives tale of batteries not being able to be stored on the ground or concrete.Many years ago it had some basis in fact because of what battery cases were made of .Not today !Modern plastics and insulation have actually taken the worry out of that.There are many battery websites that support this http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/battery.asp.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Last year will be the last time I remove and store all 3 batteries indoors on a trickle charge. My back went out last Fall lugging batteries up stairs and I spent a night in hospital and a week in bed. My boat is parked outdoors 50 feet from Lake Erie and her winds. I will charge them fully and pack R-24 Roxul around them and see what happens, but I'm not herniating any more discs. If I need 3 new batteries so be it. After reading here I shouldn't have to.

 

[Grub54891]

I'm a leaversit guy myself. Charged disconnected, and put the boat away. Charge in spring during commissioning and if it works, great. If not, was about to go away anyway.Some last 5+ years some don't, depends on the brand.

 

[bruceb58]

I'm a leaversit guy myself. Charged disconnected, and put the boat away. Charge in spring during commissioning and if it works, great. If not, was about to go away anyway.Some last 5+ years some don't, depends on the brand.

Anytime the battery sits not 100% charged is time that sulfation grows in the battery. If the battery discharges 50% during the winter it will have way more sulfation than if it is kept 100% charged. It may still start your boat up in the spring but it has degraded more than if kept at 100%.

That being said, if you throw on a cheap trickle charger from Harbor Freight, you may be doing it more harm than good. I keep a 3 stage charger on mine 24 hrs a day that is designed to keep the batteries at a proper float charge.

 

[jbuote]

Leave them in. As said before, Fully charged is the KEY..
​We have golf carts at our seasonal campsite, and we leave the batteries in them on a trickle charge (with automatic Float/Maintenance after bulk charge)...
the Battery Tender Jr is what we use on the golf carts, but this:

http://www.iboats.com/ProSport-1-5-...5328120--session_id.040351531--view_id.237428

​Seems like it's about the same thing..

See, if a battery is fully charged, it won't freeze. (Well, if it's colder than -90 then I'll buy a new battery anyway if I even survive.. lol)
A discharged battery can freeze and be destroyed.
I'm new to boating, but batteries are batteries in general, and that's what I plan on doing when I put mine up for the winter...

My $0.02

 

[Grub54891]

Anytime the battery sits not 100% charged is time that sulfation grows in the battery. If the battery discharges 50% during the winter it will have way more sulfation than if it is kept 100% charged. It may still start your boat up in the spring but it has degraded more than if kept at 100%.

That being said, if you throw on a cheap trickle charger from Harbor Freight, you may be doing it more harm than good. I keep a 3 stage charger on mine 24 hrs a day that is designed to keep the batteries at a proper float charge.

​Yup,I know that, As I said, charged before laying up for the winter. Never an issue.

 

[roscoe]

Last year will be the last time I remove and store all 3 batteries indoors on a trickle charge. My back went out last Fall lugging batteries up stairs and I spent a night in hospital and a week in bed. My boat is parked outdoors 50 feet from Lake Erie and her winds. I will charge them fully and pack R-24 Roxul around them and see what happens, but I'm not herniating any more discs. If I need 3 new batteries so be it. After reading here I shouldn't have to.

Wind and insulation make no difference.

There is no heat source, so the battery will assume ambient outside temp in short order.

And wind has no effect on inanimate non heat producing objects. -20 is -20, wind or no wind. It will reach -20 a little quicker if exposed to wind, but that is all.