This fall marked the end of my...
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10-25-2021 05:40 AM
This fall marked the end of my first season with a boat. When you winterize what do you do with your batteries?
1. Remove them?
2. Just disconnect them?
3. Leave them in and hook up trickle chargers to each?
4. Something else?
Thank you!
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10-25-2021 06:42 AM
At our marina, everybody just Disconnects the Positive Wires… Be sure the Batteries are charged up to 100% before you do this. I guess if you have access, it wouldn’t hurt to hook them up occasionally for a bit of a charge, but I would not leave them on, and As Long As they are well charged, You don’t need to do that. Up here in Georgian Bay, temps can get down to -30 and 40. They won’t freeze up if they are charged.
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10-25-2021 07:39 AM
The best option is for battery storage to permit periodic charging.
Idle batteries lose about 10% state of charge (SOC) per month, more at warmer temperatures.
Batteries permitted to remain at low SOC, under 50%, suffer permanent damage called sulfation, that decreases the capacity.
When I was winterizing my boat I would yank the six group 31 batteries and used a custom charging interconnect system I designed / built to permit safe / correct periodic charging of all batteries from a single operation.
@Bert Agostino, note that it is safer to disconnect the battery negative terminal instead of positive. The metal wrench touching the battery nut could contact nearby metal. There is more nearby metal at ground potential (voltage) than at +12V potential, so removal of all battery negative wires first, followed by +12V wires is safer. Care must be followed regardless when working on the unfused battery wires.
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10-25-2021 11:59 AM
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10-25-2021 02:49 PM
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10-31-2021 04:59 AM
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11-01-2021 07:41 AM
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11-07-2021 02:50 AM
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11-07-2021 04:27 AM
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11-07-2021 06:07 AM
If they are lead acid batteries, then they should be disconnected at haul out placed on a battery maintainer. If you can have power to your boat via and extension cord, this is easy. If not, then you should remove them from the boat and keep them on a maintainer at home. A third option would be to access the boat once a month with a battery charger, but this is less then ideal and takes time.
If you let your lead acid batteries discharge for long periods of time over the winter without maintaining their charge, this greatly reduces their life and will lead to frequent replacement.
If your batteries are AGM (absorbed glass matt) batteries, which are the preferred type for the marine market, then disconnect them at haul out and leave them in the boat.
AGM batteries will not discharge over time like lead acid batteries so they will be happy just resting out a long winter. Thusly, AGM batteries will outlive lead acid type by a factor of three to four or longer.
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