Does anyone simply leave their on board battery charger on all winter while their boat's stored. The charger should go into a maintenance mode once the batterys are fully charged so I don't think there's an issue doing it. Thoughts?
On-Board Charger for Winter Storage
- Thread starter rparkssos
- Start date
I leave my onboard charger on all year long. It does go into maint. mode. I don't have to store my boat for the winter but I wouldn't think that makes a difference.
The batteries actually get warm when they are charging so I think that would help keep them from freezing. My 2 cents.
The batteries actually get warm when they are charging so I think that would help keep them from freezing. My 2 cents.
I assume we're talking the same thing.
My charger is set up so I run an AC cord from the plug-in onboard to a wall outlet. The indicator mounted in the bilge has a red lite while charging. When the batteries reach a fully charged state, the lite goes green.
At that point, my dealer told me to leave it plugged in all winter or until the boat gets used again. I have done it for 3 winters and the original batteries test strong. MY tech said the reason the batteries are still up to snuff is because they stay fully charged all the time.
My charger is set up so I run an AC cord from the plug-in onboard to a wall outlet. The indicator mounted in the bilge has a red lite while charging. When the batteries reach a fully charged state, the lite goes green.
At that point, my dealer told me to leave it plugged in all winter or until the boat gets used again. I have done it for 3 winters and the original batteries test strong. MY tech said the reason the batteries are still up to snuff is because they stay fully charged all the time.
journeyman
GreatGrady Captain
I leave the cord plugged into the boat and leave the other end loose to plug in and charge my batteries from an outlet in my garage for a day or two each month during the winter. After i shrink wrap the boat, I install a zippered door through which I can see the lights on the charger as I keep the rear access door to bilge open. Once, last winter, my better half mixed up a pitcher of margaritas and we climbed in to try and erase some mid-winter blues. Played some tunes, finished the pitcher and felt much better afterwards. MUCH better!!!
If there is no drain on your batteries like bilge pump, CO monitor etc, there really is no need to charge as long as the batteries are in good shape and fully charged before storage.(OK in places where the temps routinely go below zero may need a little more care) The electrolyte in wet cells has a freezing point that depends on the state of charge.
Cold temps do nor age batteries, hot temps do.
Modern wet cells also can be set on concrete. The concern about concrete and wet cells is an old wives tale.
Too much charging is not good. A smart trickle charger is OK as long as it is really smart
Warm batteries are a sign that the charging is too fast for a maintenance charge. I used to remove my batteries, store them in a shed and recharge them once a month but now I disconnect the ground cables, charge them up for storage and leave them in the boat ( I do not use them during winter storage). It is a lot less work for this old geezer.
Cold temps do nor age batteries, hot temps do.
Modern wet cells also can be set on concrete. The concern about concrete and wet cells is an old wives tale.
Too much charging is not good. A smart trickle charger is OK as long as it is really smart
Warm batteries are a sign that the charging is too fast for a maintenance charge. I used to remove my batteries, store them in a shed and recharge them once a month but now I disconnect the ground cables, charge them up for storage and leave them in the boat ( I do not use them during winter storage). It is a lot less work for this old geezer.
I cover the boat, turn the battery switches off, but leave the system charger on. I plug into my shore power once a month for about a day to give the batteries a "freshening" up charge. No problems in CT. Boat is out of the water anywhere from 4 months to about 5 months.
I forgot to mention that after a full winter with no charging, my motor still starts in the spring. I don't charge the batteries first.seasick said:If there is no drain on your batteries like bilge pump, CO monitor etc, there really is no need to charge as long as the batteries are in good shape and fully charged before storage.(OK in places where the temps routinely go below zero may need a little more care) The electrolyte in wet cells has a freezing point that depends on the state of charge.
Cold temps do nor age batteries, hot temps do.
Modern wet cells also can be set on concrete. The concern about concrete and wet cells is an old wives tale.
Too much charging is not good. A smart trickle charger is OK as long as it is really smart
Warm batteries are a sign that the charging is too fast for a maintenance charge. I used to remove my batteries, store them in a shed and recharge them once a month but now I disconnect the ground cables, charge them up for storage and leave them in the boat ( I do not use them during winter storage). It is a lot less work for this old geezer.
I don't see why you guys do this either, disconnect all leads and clean top of battery of dirt, and cover terminals. Memory circuits for radios and the like, part of galvanic isolator alarm/indication circuits that consume power, leakage from bilge pump ckts, etc., can be disconnected. Don't forget to reconnect them in the Spring.
Or just turn on the charger once a month or once every two months for an overnight charge, that's more than enough. That's what I do since I'm on the boat weather permitting doing work, may have the lights on, stereo, etc.
If a battery is disconnected, fully charged first, and drops dead on it's own, it is defective to begin with and needs to be replaced. Good way to find out other than a load test.
Or just turn on the charger once a month or once every two months for an overnight charge, that's more than enough. That's what I do since I'm on the boat weather permitting doing work, may have the lights on, stereo, etc.
If a battery is disconnected, fully charged first, and drops dead on it's own, it is defective to begin with and needs to be replaced. Good way to find out other than a load test.
Fishtales
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Hi Guys,
Here in the NE, we disconnect the leads, clean/cover and then charge the batteries. We leave them in the covered boats and store until spring. In the spring, the batteries get charged, connected and off we go. No need to charge over the winter. All the marinas do it this way - mine has a couple of hundred boats. No problems (excessive batt failures, freezing etc) observed and I've been doing it this way for ten years, without issue myself.
Here in the NE, we disconnect the leads, clean/cover and then charge the batteries. We leave them in the covered boats and store until spring. In the spring, the batteries get charged, connected and off we go. No need to charge over the winter. All the marinas do it this way - mine has a couple of hundred boats. No problems (excessive batt failures, freezing etc) observed and I've been doing it this way for ten years, without issue myself.