storing batteries over winter.

[rick retiree]

Once again reaching out to membership for advise. Store the 2001 in my driveway for the winter. Weather south suburbs of Chicago can reach as low as 15 degrees below. In past just leave 10 amp marine charger plugged to outside outlet 80% of the time when temp lower than freezing. With my advanced age and poor health unable to remove the 2 batteries that I relocated beneath the front bench of dinette. Which would be safer and more practical. Hook up trinkle charger, leave as is or perhaps a light bulb a heating strip they use for water pipes? Thanks Have a nice Thanksgiving (If you a a Mac you have a lot to be thankful for.)

[Highlander]

A smart charger can be left on all winter & take care of ur batt for u , no worries

J

[dlandersson]

I'm on the south side. I use a trickle charger all winter for the past 5 years. So far so good.

Once again reaching out to membership for advise. Store the 2001 in my driveway for the winter. Weather south suburbs of Chicago can reach as low as 15 degrees below. In past just leave 10 amp marine charger plugged to outside outlet 80% of the time when temp lower than freezing. With my advanced age and poor health unable to remove the 2 batteries that I relocated beneath the front bench of dinette. Which would be safer and more practical. Hook up trinkle charger, leave as is or perhaps a light bulb a heating strip they use for water pipes? Thanks Have a nice Thanksgiving (If you a a Mac you have a lot to be thankful for.)

[BOAT]

15 below what?

[grady]

Temperature does not matter. In fact hot is what destroys lead acid batteries.

Two methods:

Fully charged and disconnect! Check voltage every month and recharge as necessary.

Temperature compensated float charger made for the type of battery you have.
http://www.batteryminders.com/12-volt-b ... ator-12248

Have had no issues with ether method.

[Y.B.Normal]

-15....That's when we take off da shorts and put on da long pants up here in the Frozen Tundra near Green Bay !

Seriously, I use a smart charger and keep them fully charged all Winter. I have 2 AGM
batteries in my M. They've been going strong for almost 10 years.

[seahouse]

The Smart charger as others have stated is the smart choice to maximize battery health and longevity. Unlike a standard trickle charger they turn on and off as needed to keep your battery charge topped up.

If you do not keep the batteries (flooded lead-acid type) charged you could very possibly find them destroyed or damaged by freezing in the spring, given those temperatures and discharge timeframes. A battery will become more and more susceptible to freeze damage as its state of charge decreases. Essentially, the electrolyte turns to water as the battery discharges, and turns back to acid (lower freeze temperature) when it charges up again.

I have made a quick-release strap to hold my batteries secure, and yet have them easily installed/ removed seasonally, by turning a single thumb wheel. They go in and out in a fraction of the time needed with the factory setup. I then put the batteries in the garage (it gets close to freezing temps there) on a smart charger for a couple of days each month or so. I have labeled bags that all the battery leads go into so re-installation in the spring is a snap.

If you are willing to do it, and check on it occasionally, a suspended light bulb on a timer is a good way to control humidity and condensation inside the boat.

[Tomfoolery]

I leave mine in the boat, connected to a 2-channel charger that in turn is connected to an extension cord run to the garage. I don't use the shore power inlet as I don't want the GFCI receptacle in the boat to trip, as it's a pain to get into it when it's wrapped up for the winter and there's snow piled high around the boat.

I don't leave the charger on all the time, as the colder it gets, the slower lead-acid batteries self-discharge, so I just plug the cord in at the garage once in a while and leave it for a day or two. In the spring, when I first sneak in under the tarp, I unplug the charger, plug in the cord at the garage, then plug the charger in while I'm looking at the charger to see what the display shows, and it always shows solid green, even after a month without topping them up. Warmer weather will show red/green even after just a few days.

Works for me, and my shoulders thank me for not removing the batteries to a different cold place. Just be sure to keep the batteries in battery boxes, in case they leak for any reason, and keep them charged. If your car batteries aren't freezing at -15F, your boat batteries won't either if they're kept fully charged.

[BOAT]

Hey wait, when you guys say 15 below your talking about a number negative 15? That's ZERO and then fifteen degrees colder!!? Woaha! That's like, gnarly dudes! How can you go farther than ZERO? Wow, that's heavy. I don't think I have ever seen air go to ZERO, - (totally).

[Tomfoolery]

We're not Frostbite Falls, Minnesota here, but it goes below zero Fahrenheit regularly. Last year had a particularly long period below zero, in fact. I had to do some pipe thawing at my in-laws' house for the first time since they moved up here (while they enjoyed their pool in southern Florida ).

And my batteries were fine. Even my diesel SUV started fine (but it has glow plugs ).

Oh, and I've been to Minneapolis, MN when it was ten below or so (a few times), but the sun was shining, and it just didn't feel that cold. I wouldn't want to go camping in that, but if you're dressed for it, and the sun is shining, it's ok. Around here, the sun doesn't shine that much in winter (cloudy usually), and it just gets depressing. The "Long Gray" as some of the locals described it to me when we moved here. And they were right. Time to start looking for warmer climes.

[BOAT]

I agree Tom, you need to move over here - it's cheaper here where I am than at your place and you would really like the weather and the people would like you and be real nice to you. mastreb is close too, (but it's expensive where he lives). I like to visit New York - it's fun, but it's better to live here. New York costs a lot of money too. I met some real nice people from Buffalo on the subway near Times Square once and they told me that even though they liked Buffalo they planned to retire in a warmer place too. The cold is hard to take when your old.

I guess batteries are sort of like people.

[Tomfoolery]

I guess batteries are sort of like people.

Yeah, and we get retired and replaced when we're too old to work as required.

The admiral loves San Diego, and would move there in a heartbeat if the kids wouldn't be so far away. Now she's talking moving back to the NYC area. I SO don't miss it, although (or maybe because) I grew up there.

But I'd guess your batteries don't last as long in the warm weather as mine do in the cold.* So I guess I'll just have to stay here.

*Transparent attempt to keep it somewhat on-topic.

[Russ]

Oh, and I've been to Minneapolis, MN when it was ten below or so (a few times), but the sun was shining, and it just didn't feel that cold.

Lots of factors to feel cold. I've seen it -20 here and sun shining and steam coming off the street. Of course we have a mile less atmosphere to filter the sun, so it's powerful.
When I first moved here, it was -30 one day. I went outside without a coat expecting my spit to freeze before it hit the ground. It doesn't feel that cold. The biggest indicator of cold is the hairs in your nose freezing. It's the price we pay to not have to live among millions of people. Keeps peeps and bug populations down.

--Russ

[seahouse]

Yeah, it gets cold here too, colder than Southern California .

We have thrown a cup of boiling water from our upper balcony and had it freeze before it hits the ground, just like in the Youtube videos (it works better in a dry cold). The humidity also is a factor in the feeling of "cold". Contrary to popular opinion, the outdoor relative humidity stays fairly constant throughout the year in this swath of the continent.

I should have mentioned that if my boat were not in a storage facility, I would leave the batteries in the boat as well.

[NiceAft]

The two batteries I have are AGM's. They weigh sixtyfive pounds each, so in spite of the fact that I am in good health and strong enough to lift each, I am not crazy. That is a lot of weight They sit there A smart charger runs all winter.

Ray