Battery storage for the winter months

[Irishwolf]

With cold winters and concrete floors known to kill batteries, I wonder what others do to keep their batteries from dying a slow and painful death over the winter. Do you pull them out and leave in your garage on wood, do you keep them on a charger, do you close your eyes and hope for the best come spring? Something else?

For me I keep it on a trickle charge, in the boat, under a boat cover, in the driveway. I have a 14 foot Lund. I built a battery box (fuse panel/posts at the back left side) wired to the battery I built into the front bench. Battery powers my electric start motor, 2 riggers, GPS/FF and manual bilge. I also built a charging port off the battery box to charge the battery without having to pull the battery out. I do not have a battery shut off. Just no room for one. I can pull off the main line to the battery box, but I'm worried this will corrode the wires as I found happened with an old VW Golf I had sitting in my driveway for over a year. I know marine grad wires are built beefier than automotive, but just curious if this practice is ok or am I opening myself up to potential issues?

This setup worked well for me last winter, kinda feel like it keeps the system warm and ready to go, so if a warm day approached, I can simply unplug and go.

Cheers.

 

[Whole in the Water]

IMO best to take them out of the cold, put them on a piece of wood, and put them on a dedicated battery charger/maintainer until you use then again. Cover all exposed electrical connections with dielectric grease. If can't do this then charge them fully up up at least once a month at a bare minimum. Leaving a battery in the cold and/or uncharged for months on end = shorter battery life. Trust me I know first hand!

 

[CIVANO]

I read that when storing for a long period of time cover the posts with Vaseline mixed with baking soda. The baking soda neutralizes the acid that forms. I am trying this on a tractor battery stored with a trickle charger for the winter.

 

[profisher]

The battery guys told me that concrete floors no longer bother todays batteries. New casing materials prevent any harm. I leave mine in the boat but give them a charge in the spring..also run the engines every couple of weeks for 15 minutes which helps top them up.

 

[gungadin]

Disconnect the ground cable, hook up a battery maintainer, and leave it until breakup

 

[tinboatrobb]

I have a 14 foot Lund also. I start the motor once or twice a month and have not had battery issues since buying the boat new 5 years ago. Victoria winters just font get that cold.

 

[Saxe Point]

I fish as much as I can all year round. Keeps my motors, batteries and me healthy and happy. I’d rather wear the stuff out using it than addressing deterioration from lack of use. I’m from the prairies but wasn’t into sitting around a hole in the ice trying to keep from freezing, so I’ve got a lot of west coast winter fishing to catch up on!

 

[tubber]

I have two batteries and a 1/2/both switch. I keep my boat in the garage in winter. I usually put a 2 amp charge on one battery for a week, then put it on the other.
Can I just set the switch to Both and leave the charger on one battery the whole time?

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

Concrete floors draining batteries are a myth. As long as you don’t have a drain on the batteries, there is no need to maintain. If a battery doesn’t hold its charge over the winter months, it’s defective and needs to be replaced.
Trickle chargers do more harm than good.
But what would I know. I’ve only been a mechanic for 30 years

 

[RiverBoy]

@gungadin steered me in the right direction for my boat . having dual batteries hooked up in parrellel, if on a maintainer or trickling put the positive clip on one battery and the negative clip on the negative terminal of the second battery.

 

[Irishwolf]

Thanks for all your replies guys, this helps me a lot, and looks to be a topic in need as I wasn't able to find one on battery maintenance on this forum.

Concrete floors draining batteries are a myth. As long as you don’t have a drain on the batteries, there is no need to maintain. If a battery doesn’t hold its charge over the winter months, it’s defective and needs to be replaced.
Trickle chargers do more harm than good.
But what would I know. I’ve only been a mechanic for 30 years

Thanks for your reply @Island Fish Lifter. Can you tell us a bit more about the issue with trickle charging? I always thought this was good for a battery and only moved to it last winter because my battery was down after a few consecutive cold days. I had nothing drawing on the battery that I was aware of (battery was 1 year old at this point). I took it back thinking it was defective, but the test showed no failures. Can you recommend any other ways to test the battery? Or to test of there are draw downs? I suppose the battery switch would help with that. Still waiting for Trotec to stock the little ones.

Thanks again for all the feedback guys!

 

[triplenickel]

Thanks for all your replies guys, this helps me a lot, and looks to be a topic in need as I wasn't able to find one on battery maintenance on this forum.



Thanks for your reply @Island Fish Lifter. Can you tell us a bit more about the issue with trickle charging? I always thought this was good for a battery and only moved to it last winter because my battery was down after a few consecutive cold days. I had nothing drawing on the battery that I was aware of (battery was 1 year old at this point). I took it back thinking it was defective, but the test showed no failures. Can you recommend any other ways to test the battery? Or to test of there are draw downs? I suppose the battery switch would help with that. Still waiting for Trotec to stock the little ones.

Thanks again for all the feedback guys!

A basic clamp type ammeter is the easy way to check for loads.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/...5QIVB5SzCh3CRQoDEAQYASABEgJ0SfD_BwE#store=930

 

[Sharphooks]

The battery guys told me that concrete floors no longer bother todays batteries. New casing materials prevent any harm. I leave mine in the boat but give them a charge in the spring..also run the engines every couple of weeks for 15 minutes which helps top them up.

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I attach a hose and fire them up every few weeks. I’ve been through 4 boats over the years and I’ve never winterized...as in....fogging the cylinders . I do that to my small 5 Hp , 8 Hp and 15 Hp Yammies I use in rivers but the bigger outboards I leave out in the weather and run them every once in awhile. Coats the cylinders, moves oil around, and tops off the batteries—-three birds with one twist of the key. Just make sure you drain all the cooling water out when you’re done...for obvious reasons