Winterizing - what to do with batteries

[russellsmojo]

True statements trayson. It’s supposed be 70 and sunny on Monday so the boat might just get wet


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[trayson]

True statements trayson. It’s supposed be 70 and sunny on Monday so the boat might just get wet


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I'll be on the next flight...
(I wish)

[Broke Pilot]

you're in Texas. with the rare exception (like today) you certainly don't get that much cold. Certainly not more than us in the PNW.

In past years I left them in the boat, hooked up to some harbor freight float chargers. But I upgraded to the ProSport 20 dual bank onboard charger. So I'll leave the batteries in (I have 3 of them) and have the onboard charger keep them topped off over the winter.

I get regular Walmart Everstart maxx deep cycle lead acid batteries for around $100 each. If don't get a few extra months of life out of them, I won't cry.

Texas gets pretty dang cold in the winter. I don't care what anyone says! Lol the humidity in SE Texas doesn't help. We're not regularly below freezing like most up north during the winter.
To the guys that leave the boats outside with the batts in them up there in the north, do y'all at least wrap the batteries or use anything for insulation while they're on a trickle charge? That could be a major help. Just enough to keep the internal temps up thru the winter.
The business jets I fly, the batteries are all exposed to multiple heat/cold cycles in a day. You can go from 120° in the shade in Vegas to -67°C at 45000' in 20 minutes.
We have thermal blankets on the batteries, and if one malfunctions, it's a no go.

[russellsmojo]

Texas gets pretty dang cold in the winter. I don't care what anyone says! Lol the humidity in SE Texas doesn't help. We're not regularly below freezing like most up north during the winter.
To the guys that leave the boats outside with the batts in them up there in the north, do y'all at least wrap the batteries or use anything for insulation while they're on a trickle charge? That could be a major help. Just enough to keep the internal temps up thru the winter.
The business jets I fly, the batteries are all exposed to multiple heat/cold cycles in a day. You can go from 120° in the shade in Vegas to -67°C at 45000' in 20 minutes.
We have thermal blankets on the batteries, and if one malfunctions, it's a no go.

Been a while since the weather changed that much in one day. I will never complain about temperature swings again.


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[trayson]

Texas gets pretty dang cold in the winter. I don't care what anyone says! Lol the humidity in SE Texas doesn't help. We're not regularly below freezing like most up north during the winter.
To the guys that leave the boats outside with the batts in them up there in the north, do y'all at least wrap the batteries or use anything for insulation while they're on a trickle charge? That could be a major help. Just enough to keep the internal temps up thru the winter.
The business jets I fly, the batteries are all exposed to multiple heat/cold cycles in a day. You can go from 120° in the shade in Vegas to -67°C at 45000' in 20 minutes.
We have thermal blankets on the batteries, and if one malfunctions, it's a no go.

we'll regularly have evening temps in the 30s and upper 20s. so not terrible. my batteries are in their battery boxes inside the observer locker of my boat. But just parked under the carport on the back of my house. Maybe I'm neglecting them by not tucking them in and reading them a story, but like I said, they're $100 Walmart lead acid batteries, so I treat them like the bastard children that they are! Muhahahaha

[MJHSupra]

I leave mine all hooked up with the perko switch off. I plug in the on board charger once or twice per winter. I store it inside in a heated shop though.

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I do the same thing. Damn boat is spoiled to be stored in a heated shop with a bunch of RVs. Hot rod does not get this treatment.
Before it's stored for the winter I make sure all three batteries are charged 100%.

One of the best upgrades on my 2007 was to install a charger: 30A Inteli-Power Marine Battery Charger. Mainly summer months.

Before the charger, I removed both batteries and stored them in the garage fully charged
Every month I would trickle charge for a few days.
Not sure that helped to remove them from the boat.
Not sure the charge helped a few times each winter.

[Broke Pilot]

we'll regularly have evening temps in the 30s and upper 20s. so not terrible. my batteries are in their battery boxes inside the observer locker of my boat. But just parked under the carport on the back of my house. Maybe I'm neglecting them by not tucking them in and reading them a story, but like I said, they're $100 Walmart lead acid batteries, so I treat them like the bastard children that they are! Muhahahaha

That's funny right there... lol I can completely understand.
I guess I'm just over protective and/or bored (read- cheap). My new big shop is very well insulated. I don't even winterize the boats down down here.
I'm sitting in Boston on a trip right now, good god it's cold. I dunno how y'all can live like this. Lmao

[jzelt]

Perko Switch is off. I hook up battery charger to both at end of season to make sure they are at capacity. Then hook up Harbor Freight $5 trickle charger to it. Switch to snowmobiles the same process in the spring time. Unheated garage. Deep cycle lead batteries. (I believe the AGM and other special batteries may need special treatments).