trolling motor and battery storage help!

[super dave]

I have a trolling motor question for you guys. I just picked up a used transom mount trolling motor, battery and charger for some small back lakes fishing next year. I know nothing about maintenance of the battery or the trolling motor. Should I leave the battery on trickle charge all through the winter? Or can I just leave it in the garage all winter? What about storing the motor. Can I leave that in the garage as well? Also, the previous owner mentioned topping up the motor with clean distilled water by opening up the battery. Is that necessary? Help please. Sorry for all the questions.

 

Thanks.

[bubbles]

Motor - leave it in the garage, mine stay on the boat in the garage.

Battery - charge it full and keep it in the basement, pull it out in Feb and charge it again if it needs it.

Done.

[Fisherman]

Charge the battery, add distilled water and then plug it in to one of these until you go to use it next spring. http://batteryminders.com/batterycharger/c...io-p-16134.html

[super dave]

Thanks!

[BillM]

Keep the battery off the concrete basement floor!!!

[Roy]

Keep the battery off the concrete basement floor!!!

 

Bill, ummmmmmmmm, I hate to tell you this but storing your batteries on a concrete floor is harmless to the batteries unless you DROP your batteries on concrete of course.

[BillM]

Bill, ummmmmmmmm, I hate to tell you this but storing your batteries on a concrete floor is harmless to the batteries unless you DROP your batteries on concrete of course.

 

K, well I'll keep this secret from my oldman

[Roy]

K, well I'll keep this secret from my oldman

 

Good, glad you read the article.

[Fisherman]

Keep the battery off the concrete basement floor!!!

I bet you believe that if you abuse your tool too often you'll get hairy palms..

[EC1]

The concrete floor is sort of a myth, now that batteries are sealed a lot better than they used to. Old batteries used to leak and discharge onto the floor, because of its porous container...

 

Even though I know that is a fact, I still place three layers of cardboard underneath the battery...Just so I feel a bit safer

[BillM]

I bet you believe that if you abuse your tool too often you'll get hairy palms..

 

I proved that wrong years ago!

[Billy Bob]

I still can't believe most here don't have on-board charging systems in their boats......if you have on there is NO need to do much of anything to your batteries but keep them plugged in.....of course before putting away for the winter IF you have a battery that the caps are removeable then keep topped off with distilled water (bought some today at Wally World for .89 for a gallon).........

 

BTW here's the system I have had for MANY years and my starting battery is over 8 years old....

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/template...600056&rid=

[misfish]

When I dropped the boat off for winterizing and wrap,I ask the guy If he wanted me to take the battery out.His reply was,nope,leave it.Nothing better for a fully charged battery then cold storage.

These guys are not,fly by nights,so I left it.

I,ll let ya know how it works out.

 

I was hooked on that concrete thing too.

[Dabluz]

You only add distilled water if the cells need to be topped up. Topped up means that the plates must be submerged. If one cell is lower than the others, this could mean that it may be damaged. If you do have a deep discharge battery with covers that can be removed, your best move is to buy a hydrometer to check the specific gravity of each cell. The specific gravity of each cell must be the same. If you add water to a cell, the specific gravity of that cell will decrease so you will have to put the battery on a charge of about 6 amps. Don't let the battery heat up (100F) and stop charging when all the cells give a read out of about 1.240 to 1.300 (depending on the concentration of the acid mix when the battery was first charged).

 

It is not necessary to leave the battery on a trickle charge. Just a hydrometer test every now and then and a bit of a charge maybe 2 or 3 times during the winter. Yes, a cool storage does decrease the activity inside the battery. However, at -35....the battery may freeze if the specific gravity is under 1.240.

 

Keep the battery clean and dry. Dirt and moisture on the top of the battery will cause current to flow between the posts and slowly discharge the battery.

 

As for the motor, you can store it anywhere however it is a good idea to keep it in a closed dry space....not outside hanging from the transom of the boat. It's a good idea to remove the blades and check to see if any fishing line has been accidentally wound on the shaft. Add a bit of oil to the shaft to ensure against corrosion.