Any suggestions if we should pull the starter battery and or the house battery during winter storage in Racine, WI?
Thanks Bob
Thanks Bob
batteries over the winter
- Thread starter glonek5
- Start date
- Status
You can, if you want, but if you have a bunch of wires leading to the batteries, I would mark them all first so you can easily reattach them next spring. If you want to leave them in the boat, make sure they are charged first. Charged batteries can be kept in cold areas (that's how battery companies store their batteries), but if they are dischaged, then they will freeze and crack and then you'll have to replace them. Many disattach the red positive leads too to make sure that there is nothing that will slowly drain the batteries if they leave them in the boat.
Although it can be back breaking work, I take our 2 group 31 (or is it 27?) batteries off and leave them hooked up to a 3 stage charger in a garage for the winter. You can also just charge them up a few times over the winter.
I got better life out of my last set of batteries, in part because of a small solar trickle charge during summer and keeping them charged up over the winter. My last pair of expensive deep cycle wet cells lasted ~ 7 years (about average).
I got better life out of my last set of batteries, in part because of a small solar trickle charge during summer and keeping them charged up over the winter. My last pair of expensive deep cycle wet cells lasted ~ 7 years (about average).
I live in the snow belt on Lake Erie. My boat is up on a cradle but our yacht club has power poles spaced around the yard. So I leave my batteries in with a small power cord thrown over the side and coiled on my prop shaft. Then about once or twice a month while I'm down at the club, I'll plug it in for a few hours to to off the charge.
glone, up here in the "real cold" area there are two trains of thought. One is to give the battery a good charge at the end of the season and then disconnect them and leave them on board for the winter. It gets to -40f here and they survive. There are no electrical outlets where we store our boats. Though this works I really have a problem with it because I would worry about those batteries every time we would have a cold spell and there are times when the snow makes it difficult to get to the boats to check them. I just take them off the boat, give them a good charge and leave them in the garage. This is no easy task because we carry 2 4D's for the house and one 27 for a starter. I rig a pulley system (4 to 1) to the boom and lift them out of the cabin and swing the boom out to lower them to the ground. Saves the back and makes it much safer than trying to get them down a ladder.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
Someone needs to upgrade to four 6V batts.... When I take 4D or 8D batts off a boat they never again go back on....
Yeah.... I know! I think of that every time I have to heft those 100#+ beasts out of the boat. To add insult to injury I seriously considered the 6v batteries when I got these 4D's and decided against them.
In Racine Wisconsin I would pull them. You may not be able to anticipate deep and long cold spells. Batteries can and will freeze so why risk it if you have the option. Unless you can insure that you can keep them charged and be able to provide some warmth on short notice I would pull them. I'm a warm weather sailor but spent 4 years in Milwaukee and know how brutal the winters can be.
In Michigan most people pull them as its not easy to,get to the boat to keep them charged. And the yard really does not like extension cords all over safety issue.
I pull mine and the marina takes care of them in a battery building. Have a friend held me get them up the companionway steps to the transom. The yard takes them off with a fork lift. No lugging them down a ladder for me.
If you do pull them don't leave them sitting on a concrete floor. There has been lots of debate on this but conventional wisdom was that the cold concrete can pull the charge out of them and leave them dead in the spring. Even if it is a myth when i had previous boat with smaller batteries I figured why take a chance since its so easy to just slip a piece of wood under them.
I pull mine and the marina takes care of them in a battery building. Have a friend held me get them up the companionway steps to the transom. The yard takes them off with a fork lift. No lugging them down a ladder for me.
If you do pull them don't leave them sitting on a concrete floor. There has been lots of debate on this but conventional wisdom was that the cold concrete can pull the charge out of them and leave them dead in the spring. Even if it is a myth when i had previous boat with smaller batteries I figured why take a chance since its so easy to just slip a piece of wood under them.
Old memories die hard.
It is true that when battery boxes were made of wood that leaving them on a concrete floor could drain the power out of them. The electrolyte could saturate the wood and ...
Current day battery boxes made of plastic are much more resilient. I will still use a block or two of wood under batteries just to keep them away from any moisture on the floor.
It is true that when battery boxes were made of wood that leaving them on a concrete floor could drain the power out of them. The electrolyte could saturate the wood and ...
Current day battery boxes made of plastic are much more resilient. I will still use a block or two of wood under batteries just to keep them away from any moisture on the floor.
- Status