Storing Battery Over Winter

starter?

Ouch! Charger, of course.

I've used a battery "tender" over 2 winters and no issues with my Ranger truck

Charger.

Won't hurt it.

Smart chargers are OK, too. Most charge till the battery is "full" and then switch to trickle, usually less than an AMP.

I stored my last boat outside (Arizona) and used a small solar panel for each battery to keep them charged. They put out about 800 milliamps each which was enough.

Thank you, just what I needed to know.

Tiger93rsl makes a good point; it shouldn't be on a trickle charger inside your living space.

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If you are going to store it in the basement, it needs to be taken outside every month and charged. Storing it in an unheated shed or similar probably makes more sense.

Well, then, how about on a trickle charger in an unheated shed? My problem is that I go from MN to AZ for 3 months and want the battery to survive the winter, hopefully.

As long as it is kept dry and away from material that could cause a short, an unheated shed on a trickle charger sounds close to ideal.

I distinguish between a trickle charger and a battery maintainer (such as battery tender, but there are several brands.) With a trickle charger you need to check the water now and then. The maintainer should not run it dry. Or a regular charger perhaps once a month. Or a regular charger turned on maybe an hour or less a day by a light sensor, and off the rest of the time. I have vehicle batteries stored in the cold, because I have no better place to put them; generally I can get double the warranty from them.

Usual shelf life (one can store it without any charging) of any lead-acid battery is at least three months. So you can store it without any charging arrangement. You should only ensure full charge before storage and also before using after three months. In addition if anyone wants to store any flooded battery for around six months, he has to ensure full charge first then drain the electrolyte and store it. During reuse, it should be filled by electrolyte with proper specific gravity to give initial charge.

The self discharge rate of a flooded lead acid battery is about 20% per month, though it does decrease significantly with a reduction in temperature.

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While limiting the number of times and duration lead acid batteries experience deep discharge is generally a good idea, there is another reason that you don't want to let your battery go several months without recharging while storing over the winter.....

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While the electrolyte in a fully charged battery will not freeze until something like -50F, the electrolyte in a discharged battery can freeze at a much higher temperature and severely damage the battery.

For the last 8 years, I just disconnect the negative battery cable from my boat's battery after I winterize the engine, put a cover on it and leave it from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Starts right up with no problems in the spring. Our fall/winter/spring temperatures here in Maryland are not too cold or too warm for battery storarge.

Nope. It should be stored preferably in an outbuilding that has plenty of ventilation, and charged when a charge tester device says so.

I have a riding lawn mower at my Father-in-law's cabin, acres to mow!! And I have killed a few batteries leaving them out there over the cold Nebraska winters.

Lately, I will pull the battery in Fall and put it in my garage over the Winter, not on the concrete. The I will wait for Spring a week before I go out THEN put it on a charger for a day or two or three. I take it out, clean the cables, install and all is well!!

Thanks, Sid. I'm in MN, so same brutal winter temps as NE.

I'm in MN too (MSP). I take my battery in the house and put the little Optima charger on it.

yes. One boat battery on a trickle poses no hydrogen hazard.

....and yet there are requirements for supplying ventilation for batteries with charging periods in mind.

What you want is a float charger. A trickle charger may overcharge the battery.

Harbor Freight sells a float charger for under $5.

If this is a boat battery, is it an AGM, GEL or spill-able lead acid (not recommended for marine application) type? If AGM or GEL they typically have a 1% per month discharge as long as nothing it connected to them so charge them and do nothing for 3 months.

We leave them alone and charge them every few months if not being used. I would never recommend charging a battery inside an occupied space. This is a huge no no.

Thank you. 3-month plan sounds sensible. It's a plain old "marine battery" from Sears.

Batteries can freeze when discharged and destroy them.

I have always stored them fully charged in my basement with no charger with no noticeable bad results however there may be better options.

A deep discharge battery is made to cycle low and wouldn't be harmed.

Also this may be outdated but I also placed a board under the battery to help prevent discharge to the concrete.

Excuse me, what is this business about discharging a battery to the concrete? Is the battery case a conductor?

you might want to update your MYTHology on batteries and concretehttp://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/battery.asp

I remove both my boat batteries, put them in my unheated garage, on a board, charge them both and leave them alone till spring. Then I throw the charger on and it generally takes a very short time to top them off. Been doing that for the past 25 years in New Jersey and the only time I've lost a good battery was when Super-Storm Sandy put 3 feet of water in my garage and submerged them.

hi

i have tried many methods over the years and had limited, failure I guess.

Untill I got a Optimate battery mainenance charger.
This maintains the battery and actually simproves the state of the battery.
It performs a few different tasks including desulphateing,

I use this on my motor cycle when I leave it for a day or more,
The battery is about 7 years old now and still performing as good as new.

Before I used this I was getting just over 2 years life on the battery regardless of how I charged it.

Im sure there are others available, check the web site below.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/OptiMate-4-Battery-charger-conditioner/dp/B000R5936U/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1382608308&sr=8-5&keywords=car+battery+maintenance+charger

Yes, it should be tricked charged. I have eight (8) "Batteryminders" (http://batteryminders.com/)on my toys, snowmobiles, PWC, ATV, autos and boat. The batteries last 8 or more years. These vehicles are stored in an unheated garage or outside in the Northeast.

I wouldn't leave a battery unattended charging in my basement for three months. Don't know even if I would leave a battery charging in the shed. I would need to take into account the cost of the items stored in the shed over the cost of the replacement battery. Shed most likely cost more then the battery.

If freezing is an issue in the shed. Put the battery in the basement. Do not store it directly on the concrete. Or near anything the has an open flame(water heater,furnace). Place it on some dry 2 X 4's as insulators. Will help reduce leakage current. Just make sure it's fully charged before you leave.

Most electrical devices have warnings do not use unattended. A legal way for the manufactures to say S#*T happens and were not taking the responsibility.

So is the value of this battery worth S#*T happening to you?

I second the unattended part.

A wet cell in cold weather will freeze. If you keep it in a heated basement it will be fine, it might need a quick charge before using it. Do not let it sit on a concrete floor. Wooden shelves, or wood just under it works best. Trickle chargers are great, but 3 months is a long time to keep it on a charger. A trickle can charge a good battery in 24 hours.

'....A wet cell in cold weather will freeze ....'

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It would have to be VERY cold weather to freeze a fully charged wet cell.

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Regardless of what the graph says, 15 years as a mechanic I have changed batteries that have frozen and cracked cases in a cold spells lasting 3 days or more. That is a common thing to where he lives, it happens.

Any chance those batteries might have been less than fully charged?

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I'm not saying you are wrong.... but I am suggesting that the graph might still be correct.

Oh, definitely. Mounted in a vehicle, used less than daily, cars with alarms, radio memories, and a load of things that are a constant drain on a battery. Chances are very good they would be less than fully charged. In northern US (like Minnesota) people tend to stay put through an extreme cold spell. Thankfully I no longer live in the northern US, and no longer work as a mechanic. Being that the battery in question would be unattended for three months (in Minnesota), I would advise against leaving it on a trickle charger. Even a trickle charger will evaporate off the fluid in a battery. Properly stored in a heated basement would be the best option. Battery makers and retailers don't recommend this for brand new batteries before sale, while in storage.

There has been much discussion about what is best for the battery to be placed on to keep it off the concrete floor (if at all necessary). Some of the things stated have included wood, 2 x 4's, who knows maybe even levitation, etc.

The best way to take care of this problem and some other possibilities is, if the boat or toy is equipped with it for the battery, to take the plastic battery box out of the boat along with the battery and store/charge it in there. This reduces the potential conductivity problem, containment of spilled acid/water, protects the battery case from abuse or damage, etc. It also prevents that Murphy's Law incident where you drop the best screwdriver or combination wrench you own onto the terminals of the battery and short out/blow up/destroy the battery. If the boat isn't equipped with one or you don't want to take it out, buy another one for the winter layover. They cost about $15.00 at West Marine. Much cheaper than a replacement battery and much easier than listening to the wife when you tell her you have to spend another $100 on the boat she considers to be a bottomless pit of expenses. Even much better should she learn that it needs to be replaced because of another mistake you made. That doesn't even include the cost of a replacement battery tender!

Good Luck, Old Salt

A lot of good stuff here already, but I would like to draw your attention to "trickle" charging and its inherent problems.

If a trickle is/can be properly set up, it will hold the battery at a voltage of around 13 - 13.2 volts. The voltage will stay stable and the battery will not gas.

If the battery is small or not in a good condition, the trickle charge may be too much and the battery voltage will slowly climb, causing slow but steady gassing, and its possible dangers, also aging the battery faster than needed...

If the battery is large, a trickle charger made for a smaller battery will not maintain the battery voltage, allowing it to slowly drop over a long period.

Basically as a battery ages, the Trickle voltage will need to be increased slightly to maintain charge.

This level varies with age and temperature, its not fixed. Therefore a trickle charger is a waste of time to my mind, unless you go and check it relatively often and adjust it to suit the current conditions.....what a waste of time?

I set my chargers to oscillate between 12.6 and 13.2 volts. This stops sulfating under 12.6 volts and gassing above 13.2 volts and sort of gives the battery a sort of "keep-fit" regime!

It is of course possible to electronically control a trickle charger to a (pre-) set voltage on ANY battery (of the right chemistry of course!). But all of the ones that I have had in my hands, no matter what was written on the box, all caused overcharging on smaller car batteries.....slowly but surely!!

But I have never personally ever found any benefits with doing this.....also my method does not need to take battery temperature into consideration, another benefit in the direction of simplicity!

Nobody has to follow my ideas if they don't want to, but my caravan battery I believe is now 11 or 12 years old (its so long here that I am not sure!! I must have a look at the year sticker....) Its still working as expected, but I have not the equipment to make a full capacity check at home...sadly.

I had two marine batteries being charged with an automatic charger while in the boat. After I went back in a wek, I found the batteries "cooked". The charger failed to turn off. I returned the charger and the two batteries to Sears and they gave me two new batteries and a charger. I don'r trust automatic chargers.