Winter battery removal
 

Popular widsom has it that the batteries should be removed from the
boat before winteer storage. The boat will be stored outside, here in
Montreal,.

Question is, why can the batteries not be left in the boat if they are
fully charged before the winter and charged again in the spring?

Many thanks in advance

Matt

Winter battery removal
 

On 8 Nov 2005 20:14:50 -0800, wrote:

Popular widsom has it that the batteries should be removed from the
boat before winteer storage. The boat will be stored outside, here in
Montreal,.

Question is, why can the batteries not be left in the boat if they are
fully charged before the winter and charged again in the spring?


Briefly, because batteries discharge somewhat directly to the air, and
if still hooked up to wire...even a discontiniuous circuit...will
"leak". That's why boats "put away" are recommended to disconnect the
ground.

The cold...and in Montreal, very cold...weather also lowers the
voltage rating of batteries significantly, perhaps to the point of
allowing the electrolyte to freeze.

Having said that, I keep mine aboard, but I charge them twice a week
as I live near to my club and have a tarp, heater and 15 amps to the
boat 16 hrs/day if I need it. I will deliberately run the cabin lights
or a small inverter to cycle them over the winter a couple of times on
the perhaps dubious theory that a battery bank being used and charged
is happier than a bank being half-frozen and then jolted with a
charger on occasion.

If you are leaving your boat entirely, standard battery preservation
lore has it to bring them home to a cool basement and trickle charge
them (assuming they're standard lead/acid "wet" cells) a couple of
times a month at 14.1 volts or so to "top them up".

R.

Winter battery removal
 

Also a low volt battery (from sitting) has a good chance of freezing
and busting. thus electrolite drained all inside the boat, that is
unless you're battery is encased in a battery box, and that's still no
garentee.

PLUS a battery will normally loose 3-4% of it's rating per month due to
natural deterioration, and by letting it sit idle in low temperatures,
will cause it to deteriorate at a quicker rate.

Yes, if you are going to store your boat for the winter, I'd suggest
taking the battery completely out and storing it inside if possible.

My friend lives in an appt. complex and cannot do such, so, he goes to
an extreme. he switches the battery in his pick up truck and boat
battery every couple weeks in the winter.

Yeah, like I said thats an extreme, but he doesn't seem to have much of
a problem with batteries being consistantly charged.

Winter battery removal
 

On 8 Nov 2005 20:14:50 -0800, wrote:

Popular widsom has it that the batteries should be removed from the
boat before winteer storage. The boat will be stored outside, here in
Montreal,.

Question is, why can the batteries not be left in the boat if they are
fully charged before the winter and charged again in the spring?

You could try a rel small solar panel to keep up with internal losses.
Not the sunlight but the daylight type. Lots of boatowners here
(Holland) use 'm and are pretty satisfied with it.

Regards, Len.

Winter battery removal
 

Getting my 4Ds out of the boat to home is not an option. I get them
fully charged, then disconnect them and leave them in the boat. They
have never failed to start the engine on first try in the Spring.

Winter battery removal
 

Winter battery removal
 

Winter battery removal
 

Winter battery removal
 

On Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:17:50 GMT, Don White
wrote:

wrote:
Popular widsom has it that the batteries should be removed from the
boat before winteer storage. The boat will be stored outside, here in
Montreal,.

Question is, why can the batteries not be left in the boat if they are
fully charged before the winter and charged again in the spring?


I'd bet over your 4 month winter the battery would discharge and freeze
if just left outside. The question is...do you want a reliable battery
to use in the spring?

My boat is stored outside, over 6 months every winter, temperature
here in Finland being sometimes -30C...

No problems leaving fully charged battery in the boat with one wire
disconnected. Used to charge the battery once during winter. Would
start my diesel on first try in spring.

This year I connected a small 5 watt solar panel. Though there will be
_no_ sunlight for about a month in December ;)

Mika


.................................................. .............
A bad day on the water is better than a great day on land.

Lähetätkö e-mailia? Vaihda osoitteen eka (vai oliko se toka?)
kahdeksikko numeroksi viisi.

Winter battery removal
 

I agree with most of this, but primarily (again). with M. Rosalie. If
you have a battery you can take out, go ahead and take it out. But if
you have 700-800 Ah worth of batteries, then leave'm in. If leaving
in, disconnect from the system and trickle-charge if possible.
that's my 2 cents :)