winter boat storage

[rob v]

I'm about to do the annual winterizing. Up until now I've always gone to the trouble of taking the trolling motor and cranking battery out of the boat (after putting a good charge on them) and putting them in the cold room of my basement. But I'm now wondering whether it's worth the trouble. I store my boat in an unheated barn and I'm not worried about someone stealing the batteries. I was thinking I should leave them in the boat and once or twice during the winter plug the on-board charger in to top them up. It sure is a bother unhooking these things and dragging them indoors - esp now that I have 3 batteries to deal with (24 volt system on the trolling motor). I'm in southwestern ontario (london) so it's not like I'm dealing with artic winters.

 

What do the members on this board do - leave them in or take them out ?

Edited November 6, 2012 by Rob V

[ecmilley]

i pull all 3 of my battery's and leave in my utility room and charge them a couple times during the winter, have seen many people leaving them in there boats with no troubles but rather be on the safe side

[Michael Hahn]

I'm about to do the annual winterizing. Up until now I've always gone to the trouble of taking the trolling motor and cranking battery out of the boat (after putting a good charge on them) and putting them in the cold room of my basement. But I'm now wondering whether it's worth the trouble. I store my boat in an unheated barn and I'm not worried about someone stealing the batteries. I was thinking I should leave them in the boat and once or twice during the winter plug the on-board charger in to top them up. It sure is a bother unhooking these things and dragging them indoors - esp now that I have 3 batteries to deal with (24 volt system on the trolling motor). I'm in southwestern ontario (london) so it's not like I'm dealing with artic winters.

 

What do the members on this board do - leave them in or take them out ?

 

 

I have experimented both ways. If you are able to charge them once a month over the winter, then leave them in the boat. It is only when you do not charge them over the winter that will harm them.

[vance]

do like i do plug in the on board charger and leave on all winter and will maintain the batteries till spring in peak condition.

 

vance

[bare foot wader]

I asked around about this myself recently, and my boat is stored outside...i was told to bring them in the garage and sit them on some 2x4's to get them off the ground and keep a trickle charger connected

[captpierre]

I have the same settup.

 

1st 3 yrs. Took them out and stored on wood in the basement.

 

Last year. left them in the boat (in boathouse) and topped up the charge every month or so during the winter.

 

Disconnected the cables to the batteries -ie to motor and trolling motor.

 

I would like to know from the experts to see if they need to come in. All 100lb of them

 

Batteries are expensive. Want to do the best for them to last as long as possible.

[whiskywizard]

Charge them fully, disconnect them, and leave them in the boat. it's really important that you disconnect fully so you eliminate both the parasitic loads, like memory on electronics, and eliminate the circulating current between batteries in the same bank.

 

My last cruising boat had13 big batteries; 9 deep-cycle house batteries, 3 engine starting batteries for 2 diesels,and a generator starting battery for a diesel. The house batteries were >100lb each and the starting batteries were each 70lb. There's no way I wanted to lift each of them out of the battery space, haul them up out of the engine room, and down a 10' high step ladder, haul them home in a truck, unload the 1200lb's worth of battery and schlep them all down into my basement! And reverse it in the spring. No way.

 

I've been doing it this way for almost 35 years on large cruising boats, and this is the way it's done by virtually all other owners of large cruisers. I do the exact same with things like summer zero turn mowers and fun/project cars.

 

I expect more than 5 years from my deep cycles and close to 10 from the thin-plated starting batteries.

[DRIFTER_016]

I leave all three of my batteries in the boat and the onboard charger plugged in all winter.

If the batteries need a charge the charger comes on automatically and does it's thing.

I don't have to worry about dicharging or freezing batteries and when spring rolls around I just roll the boat out of it's shelter and start her up.

[Crazy Ivan]

I store them inside where they won't freeze. 2 deep cycle and 1 starter. The boat sits outside and the temp can get down to -30 C. I put a charge on them every 2 months.

[Crazy Ivan]

Just found this info online -

 

"In a partially discharged state, the electrolyte in a lead acid battery may freeze. At a 40% state of charge, electrolyte will freeze if the temperature reaches approximately ­16.0°F. The freezing temperature of the electrolyte in a fully charged battery is -92.0°F."

 

So, it sounds like if the batteries are kept fully charged there is no problem. I don't have an on-board charger so mine come inside.

 

 

[DRIFTER_016]

Just found this info online -

 

"In a partially discharged state, the electrolyte in a lead acid battery may freeze. At a 40% state of charge, electrolyte will freeze if the temperature reaches approximately ­16.0°F. The freezing temperature of the electrolyte in a fully charged battery is -92.0°F."

 

So, it sounds like if the batteries are kept fully charged there is no problem. I don't have an on-board charger so mine come inside.

 

 

 

Exactly.

It drops to -50C at times here.

Which is well above the freezing point of a fully charged battery.

And with the onboard plugged in at all times it will never discharge to a vulnerable state.

Before I got the onboard the batteries came in the house for the winter.

 

My buddy keeps his boat here at my place as well but he doesn't have an onboard charger so his battery is in my house where it can stay nice and warm.

[Fisherman]

This has to be one of the most repeated questions and should be a sticky somewhere so the curious can maintain their batteries properly. Most answers are opinions and we all know about them, they're like and some can stink pretty bad. It has been said many times that most batteries are destroyed, mostly by neglect and users being unaware of what happens to them. Without cutting and pasting the whole article(there are many, simply google battery sulfation), here is just a small excerpt: http://www.boatelectric.com/sulfation.htm

 

 

The worst sulfated battery can be created by just leaving a battery unattended for a long period of time. A battery is like a bucket with a tiny hole. Electricity leaks little by little through what is called "natural discharge". It may take three to six months to drain a battery completely, and sulfation created in this process is quite possibly the worst kind.

For deep cycle batteries used in Renewable Energy, Marine and RV applications, sulfation buildup is a real problem because these batteries are not regularly charged to their full capacity.

 

Do yourself a favour, get a battery maintainer such as the CTEK from CDN Tire or Battery Minder from VDC Electronics and let them keep the battery in its best condition. I know, they cost money, how much does throwing a battery out every couple years cost. They take pennies worth of electricity during the off season, maybe 1% of the cost of a new battery. My boat battery is over 9 years, my last RV battery lasted me 11, I must be doing something right. Don't be the doofus that pulls up the boat ramp with a dead battery and says well I charged it last fall.

I'm not pointing fingers at anyone who made earlier replies, just trying to help you avoid blowing money on batteries when you could be buying more fishing gear.

[GBW]

I leave all three of my batteries in the boat and the onboard charger plugged in all winter.

If the batteries need a charge the charger comes on automatically and does it's thing.

I don't have to worry about dicharging or freezing batteries and when spring rolls around I just roll the boat out of it's shelter and start her up.

nuff said.

 

I don't take mine out either. 4 to 5 charges a winter after a 'cold snap' and they are good to go. a week prior to the spring launch they go on the trickle charger the whole time and never an issue here.

 

Mind you my Johnson 115 Faststrike is over 12 years old and still to se a replacement impeller like the Merc guys need to do very often....

[DRIFTER_016]

nuff said.

 

I don't take mine out either. 4 to 5 charges a winter after a 'cold snap' and they are good to go. a week prior to the spring launch they go on the trickle charger the whole time and never an issue here.

 

Mind you my Johnson 115 Faststrike is over 12 years old and still to se a replacement impeller like the Merc guys need to do very often....

 

 

I'm a Merc guy and my 90 is 22 years old and has had the impeller replaced twice.

[GBW]

I'm a Merc guy and my 90 is 22 years old and has had the impeller replaced twice.

your water must better...

Edited November 7, 2012 by GBW

[DRIFTER_016]

your water must better...

 

Same water!!

It spent most of it's time chugging around Lake O.

[ah_long]

since I upgraded to a 3 bank charger on my boat, I just take all the batteries out and hook up two of them to the old 2 bank at home and the other one to a battery tender.

 

Just going to leave them connected for the whole winter

[captpierre]

Had my impeller replaced as a precaution at 300hrs on my Yammy 115.

 

Still looked new. Mind you most of those hours are trolling

[R. J. Kovacs]

I'm about to do the annual winterizing. Up until now I've always gone to the trouble of taking the trolling motor and cranking battery out of the boat (after putting a good charge on them) and putting them in the cold room of my basement. But I'm now wondering whether it's worth the trouble. I store my boat in an unheated barn and I'm not worried about someone stealing the batteries. I was thinking I should leave them in the boat and once or twice during the winter plug the on-board charger in to top them up. It sure is a bother unhooking these things and dragging them indoors - esp now that I have 3 batteries to deal with (24 volt system on the trolling motor). I'm in southwestern ontario (london) so it's not like I'm dealing with artic winters.

 

What do the members on this board do - leave them in or take them out ?

 

 

I know of no reason why the batteries should be removed from the boat while being stored, but I would like to add, unless the battery or charger would be exposed to the elements. The most important thing to do is keep the battery fully charged during storage, disconnected from the boat electrical system with the charger connected directly to the battery. It is also a good idea to clean all corrosion and acid that accumulates on the battery case as this can actually create an electrical path between the posts. Cold will ot damage a battery that is fully charged. If leaving onboard, be sure the batteries are protected from the elements and ventilated.

[Billy Bob]

Without a doubt.......the BEST thing you can do for ANY of you boat batteries is to have a ON-BOARD Charger hooked up to them at ALL TIMES you are not fishing....almost all on-board chargers are now smart chargers that maintain those batteries in the best state they can be in during storage.

[R. J. Kovacs]

I have the same settup.

 

1st 3 yrs. Took them out and stored on wood in the basement.

 

Last year. left them in the boat (in boathouse) and topped up the charge every month or so during the winter.

 

Disconnected the cables to the batteries -ie to motor and trolling motor.

 

I would like to know from the experts to see if they need to come in. All 100lb of them

 

Batteries are expensive. Want to do the best for them to last as long as possible.

[R. J. Kovacs]

What you are doing is fine. There is no reason why you can not leave the batteries on board. Cold temperatures do not harm batteries, heat is the enemy. As long as the batteries and charger are protected from the elements, and the battery compartment is ventilated, you can keep them on board with a maintenance charger. Any acid that accumulates on the top of the battery should be cleaned off and the batteries should be disconnected from the boat electrical system to eliminate any parasitic draw from electronics. Even if equipped with a battery switch, the keep alive memory ciruits may be wired directly to the battery. I would recommend the fully automatic chargers that can be connected directly to the batteries, plugged in and forgotten. You may also use the less sophisticated chargers but they need to be monitored and used periodically. I would also disconnect this type of charger from the battery when not plugged in. Be sure nothing will fall onto the batteries, especially anything metal that could contact the terminals. Be sure your charger is sized large enough according to the battery capacity.

[bigbuck]

The marina I used to deal with would charge them up, disconnect them and shrink wrap the boat. In spring, it would be ready to go. Rarely would they have to recharge a battery in the spring. Those were usually batteries that were pretty much done.