Avoiding a Dead Battery

[ORAA1997]

How to do you avoid a dead battery when storing your boat?

Thanks,

[brumbyvet.1044]

When winterizing, I remove battery and keep it in my shed hooked up to a battery maintainer. I check the water level about once a month but I've never had to add any. I've always done this with my boats and I've always had good luck with the batteries. I usually buy a new one after four years.
By the way, I really like your boat. Hopefully we'll be able to splash our boats before too much longer.

[BrianP]

I keep all of mine on the Waterproof Battery Tenders! They're great!

[curtiscapk]

Yep take both out and maintain em all winter at home.

[badmoonrising]

Yep take both out and maintain em all winter at home.

Ditto...4 from the PC and 2 from my Starcraft...

[Parasympathetic]

I unhook mine and put a full charge on all three. The boat is stored in a garage during the winter, so once they're unhooked from any possible electrical drain and fully charged, it shouldn't be a problem even if temps get down to zero. It would be more convenient to have them "home" so I could check the charge every month or so, but in my case, I'd have to stand on my head to get the mofo's out of the boat, so I just leave em there.

When they go bad, I'm gonna hire a midget to get in there and hoist em out.

Midgets are handy like that.

[WaltF]

Same here!
I take the batteries out of the camper and da boat and put em in the garage over the winter and hook em up to my 3 stage smart charger about once a month.

I just stuck the toon battery back in the toon last weekend to do a stereo installation. Ill put the toon back in the lake in about a month, so i just left it in there...
Cant Wait!

[GXPWeasel]

Took mine out after I winterized the boat. I have it at home, in our basement, on a work bench. Although, I think I might have to buy another one anyway, as I was having problems keeping a charge

[ORAA1997]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I'm getting ready to take it out for the first time this year tomorrow Sunday!!! FINALLY!!!

[Steveclv]

I have installed a 60W Solar Panel (eBay $172)and charge controller on mine for use during the season.

I have an unoccupied space in front of the console and the 60W panel is approx 28" square so I got a couple of 6" aluminum hinges (actually from one of the old lounge seats) and mounted it to the top of the side rail in front of the console. A couple of rubber bumpers and a velcro strap hold it down vertically against the inside of the railing when underway. When docked, I simply raise it to horizontal or higher and have an adjustable prop that sits underneath in a hole that I drilled in the frame to keep it up. It's wired back to a 10A charge controller and into the main storage battery. It puts out around 5 amps during the day, less at night (LOL) but seems to keep the battery all topped up and ready to go.

Sorry, it wasn't what you asked regarding long term off season storage but it's an idea for anyone who wants to keep their batteries topped up between trips. I only ever arrived to go boating to find a dead set of batteries once - I'm not doing it again!!

[pelicantooner]

I used to agree with most about pulling out the battery in the winter and keeping it charged, until this year. I pulled mine out and put it back in this spring. I messed up the wires hooking them all back on the battery and in 2 short seconds, I had smoke coming out of the council. 450.00 later the dealership had me fixed up with a new wiring harness and all my gauges again working. He told me that they store 300 boats there in the winter and have never removed a battery. He told me to have a fully charged battery and unhook one of the posts and tie wrap it together so you know to put back on the one post you took it off of, and there should be no problem starting in the spring.

[OldePharte]

I guess that I am the laziest SOB on here. I have never, ever, removed my battery during the winter layup. And I never had a charging issue the following Spring. Maybe just lucky?

My '92 deckboat had the battery replaced in '98. Which reminds me, I still have that old sucker in the garage. I keep forgetting to drop it off at the local O'Reilly's for recycling.

[WaltF]

Battery Info: The 12volt Side of Life

# Winter Storage

Most RVs used for recreation are stored for long periods of time in the winter months. This storage can be very hard on your batteries if you don't take care of them. Batteries in storage self-discharge over time. This is a natural phenomenon and will cause your batteries to slowly go flat. Deep discharges drastically shorten your batteries life. Extremely cold temperatures can cause your batteries to freeze if they aren't adequately charged. A battery close to fully charged is far more resistant to freezing than a partially charged battery. Freezing will normally kill a flooded cell battery dead. Some of the gell batteries and most of the AGM type batteries are more resistant to damage from freezing, but it's better to prevent it. To avoid all this potential mayhem, some charging current will have to be applied to the batteries periodically during the storage period.

To keep your battery safe through the winter storage period, consider removing the batteries and storing then in a warmer place, like a garage. Check the voltage once a month and do an overnight recharge if the voltage falls to the 80% state-of-charge point. (see charts above). If removing the batteries just isn't possible, then there are several things that you must do when the rig is put into storage.

1. Ensure that ALL electrical loads are disconnected from your house batteries. There are lots of things in your RV that may put a tiny load on your batteries even though everything is "off". Most stereo receivers, electronically controlled refrigerators and smoke, CO2 and Propane detectors all are tiny drains on the batteries. Even if the current draw is only a few milliamps, over time these "phantom loads" will run your batteries flat! Best bet is to identify which 12 volt fuses protect these units and remove them. It is a real good idea to check at the battery with an ammeter to ensure that there is no current drain.
2. Provide for some sort of charging to offset the batteries tendency to self-discharge. This can be provided by a small solar panel or trickle charger, or the converter or 3 stage charger in your RV. It is best to let the batteries discharge slightly over a few weeks or a month and then do a full recharge overnight. Trickle chargers and unregulated solar panels can slowly boil off electrolyte, or worse, fail to maintain the charge, allowing your batteries to become deeply discharged. If your RV has a standard converter, do not leave it plugged in constantly to keep your batteries up! That converter will boil your batteries DRY in a big hurry! If you must leave your RV plugged into A/C power over the storage period, make sure to either unplug the converter or switch it off at the breaker. It's far better to run the converter overnight every 3 or 4 weeks or so as needed to charge the batteries. Another possibility would be to put the converter or the whole RV on a simple plug in timer and set it to be "on" for about 1 hour a day. If you have a smart 3 stage charger, it may be safe to leave it plugged in at all times, buy I would pay very close attention to the electrolyte level in the batteries just in case. Boiling a battery down to where the plates are exposed to air will cause permanent damage to the battery. Don't let this happen to you!
3. Check on the batteries from time to time during the storage period. Stop by at least once a month and check battery voltage and electrolyte levels. Don't walk away from your RV batteries in November and expect them to still be ready to go in May. Folks that adopt the "Out of sight, out of mind" approach to battery maintenance are usually the ones buying a new set of batteries at the start of every camping season!

[FloterBoter]

i used to always pull mine and store it in the heated garage on the maintainer.
but it's gotten to the point where a load of fuel costs more than a battery.
so i'm getting lazy and am going to start leaving it in the boat.
i have an on/off switch so it is totally isolated from the boat.