Leaving battery's on board in the winter

[smoothsailing]

I have 2 Deep Cycle battery's on board hooked up to a 120 W solar panel with a Pulse Width Modulated controller.

Is it OK to leave them on board for the winter?

TIA

Bill

 

[Rick I]

Most folks up here (Toronto) leave them aboard all winter without anything, solar etc. Just make sure they're fully charged when you lay the boat up.

 

[Stu Jackson]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Maine Sail posted this a week or so ago:

The biggest issue with solar in the winter is panels that become occluded with snow/ice. Once this happens the parasitic loads go to work and due to the low temps battery voltage drops rapidly. If it drops enough when the panel is occluded the controller will not reboot into a low voltage. In Seattle or MD this is less of an issue than in the frozen North.

Put another way I have yet to see any properly charged then disconnected batteries ruined but have seen plenty that were left on-charge and unattended, destroyed....
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[Chief RA]

If you do use a solar panel mount it hanging down in order for it to self purge snow and debri. Chief

 

[Capt jgw]

I used to pull mine out every fall until I read somewhere that the agitation they receive being moved can stir up any crud in the bottoms and short a cell. Not to mention the wear and tear on your back. And mine are a real b****h to get out.

 

[smoothsailing]

Stu, Chief & All responders

Thanks. I did not think of the snow. I will adjust my panel accordingly.

Bill

 

[Scotian]

Year four of leaving on boat... Two CTC small solar panels attached to side of cradle in Canada..

 

[Piratenorm]

Really really wish this post had been made 2 weeks ago or longer...as in, Before I had my boat covered tight and secure. Last winter I left my two house batteries (Series 27 flooded) hooked up and powered by my 235 watt panel thru a controller and had no issue this spring when I uncovered her...but Maine Sail tells me I might, the next time...[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Put another way I have yet to see any properly charged then disconnected batteries ruined but have seen plenty that were left on-charge and unattended, destroyed....
[/FONT]Even though I have my panel tilted at about a 30 degree angle to horizontal it will eventually get snow covered and stop charging, it's inevitable. Now I have to see if it's worth the effort (huge!) to get aboard to disconnect the batteries. If it ever stops snowing, that is...

 

[Chief RA]

Norm: You only need to disconnect your battery bank up at the solar panels and that should do it. Another option would be to turn the panels straight down. Chief

 

[Rainh2o]

I used to pull mine out every fall until I read somewhere that the agitation they receive being moved can stir up any crud in the bottoms and short a cell.

I wonder though... on sailboats, or any boat for that matter, wouldn't they get stirred up just by the wave and leaning motion?

 

[Chief RA]

I think that stirring it up is not an issue you need to particularly worry about. The natural aging of battery plates shed some sponge lead to the bottom of the cells. There is a cavity in the bottom of each cell to accommodate this heavy lead build up but with aging this can be one of the reasons for a cells eventual failure. Chief

 

[LakeOntario270]

I just leave them on the boat fully charged (with no charger) and have had no issues.

 

[GWG]

My practice has been to leave the batteries in and hook up to shore power for charging once or twice during the winter. I leave the shore power switch and battery charger breker on, so i don't have to board the boat, just plug in the shorewpoer cord for a day or so. Simple and effective.

 

[Mickstr]

I take my 2 out of my 272 and keep them home for the winter, where I give them a trickle charge from time to time. I get a good 6 years or so out of them. Don't need them on the boat on the hard, but mine are no big deal to remove either...