Battery Question

Post by **Smitty** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:57 am

Hi Guys and Girls

I became a new boat owner last summer I did all the wintering stuff before I put it in the garage for the winter - I took the batteries out and placed them in the basement - I did not charge them before I placed them down there - is that going to be a problem in the spring?

Can I just charge them now or in the spring?

Any advice?

thanks
Smitty

Post by **Seaweed** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 10:27 am

Charge away...

Many boaters run intermittent charges though the batteries during the winter but I wait until just before putting them in the boat and then charge them up.

Post by **spinner** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 10:37 am

Click here for "How can I store batteries"

Post by **Smitty** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 10:39 am

Thanks Seaweed - I was worried because I was reading the post on the electric trolling motor question and Big Bass Rich posted the following - [Everytime you use your battery, recharge it as soon as possible. If you leave a battery sitting too long, the ions will neutralize and you'll lose a lot of your charge for good.]

Anyone else have any comments?

thanks
Smitty[/quote]

Post by **Seaweed** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:00 am

One question that arose for me this year with my deep cycle batteries was this.

If I use these batteries in a 24 volt set-up and they get charged this way in the boat ... will I mess them up by charging them individually as 12 volt set-up in storage over the winter months?

I have avoided charging them over the winter for this very reason... in fact I will not be charging them until I get them reinstalled in the boat and let my onboard charger take care of them.

Anyone know of any issues with this? Anyone out there with this same set-up have any input on how you deal with keeping your batteries charged.

Mine were fully charged when they went into storage so I assume they will be fine come spring.

Post by **Rex Mundi** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:04 am

One note:

Never store your battery on a cement floor. Always store of the floor. For some reason cement will suck the charge out of your battery.

Post by **Icemanstan** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:47 am

Rex Mundi wrote:One note:

Never store your battery on a cement floor. Always store of the floor. For some reason cement will suck the charge out of your battery.

That is a mith leaving your battery on cement. You can Leave your battery anywhere on the floor and you don't have to charge it before laying it away, ive done this for years and my battery is still running my mini kota 55. After winter Iâ€™ll put it on charge vary slow like 2 amps. The slower the charge the better it is to kept the charge longer when battery is in use. Let me tell you something, if your battery canâ€™t stay alive when it is not in use then how well will it perform when needed? When the time is up its up change battery.

hope this help

Post by **Cancatchbass** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:56 am

That's all I can stands. I can stands no more!!! (Popeye, 1937).

The old cement floor story goes back to when battery cells were GLASS, and there was a possibility of breakage and acid loss. No need to worry with modern batteries.

Seaweed- you can charge each battery separately with a 12 volt charger. Your on-board charger simply sends 12 volts to each battery- no difference.

Anyone who has stored a partially discharged battery since last fall will have reduced their battery life, period. Fully charged batteries in good condition normally take very little if any charge over the winter.

CCB- lurking gets too frustrating... almost choked when I read about pike not biting because they lose their teeth in winter...

Post by **Relic** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:56 am

It is best to charge them before putting them away and to periodically check them. A battery put away dead and left that way may not take a full charge in the spring. Batterys can develop memory and not charge properly if not kept at full charge. I charge mine every time out even if I only ran it for an hour.

Post by **TroutSlayer** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:09 pm

Relic wrote:It is best to charge them before putting them away and to periodically check them. A battery put away dead and left that way may not take a full charge in the spring. Batterys can develop memory and not charge properly if not kept at full charge. I charge mine every time out even if I only ran it for an hour.

Lead Acid batteries can not develop a memory! Nickel Cadmium batteries may have memory problems if not cycled properly.

Hook your two batteries together in parallel and trickle charge them with a 12 volt charger once a month for a few hours, with a good 24 hour charge just before re-installing them in your boat

Post by **MichaelVandenberg** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:16 pm

Nice to see the 'cement floor myth' put to rest quickly.

Keep the batteries charged up.

You'll never complain if the battery is full but when you run out...Keep'em charged!

Mike

Post by **Icemanstan** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:25 pm

Relic wrote:It is best to charge them before putting them away and to periodically check them. A battery put away dead and left that way may not take a full charge in the spring. Batterys can develop memory and not charge properly if not kept at full charge. I charge mine every time out even if I only ran it for an hour.

]

A battery that can't recharge when not in use is a useless battery. Why? Because when you leave a battery still and its voltage can't come back to 12.7 volts then it has had it days. Iâ€™m not talking about crank amperage. Iâ€™ve seen battery perform everyday and I have a good sense about it. Iâ€™ve taken courses on this and I have asked questions about it. They say the same thing as me. If your battery can't go back to 12.7 volts then there is no point in charging it. If you charge it one hour after fishing the memory will not be the same because you did not drain the voltage. The memory will go to the point that you started and when you finished. A battery has to be drained and then recharged so your battery will have good memory of a full charge. If you charge it half way then you will have a battery that will give you half the time of use.

Post by **eye-tracker** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:26 pm

Cancatchbass wrote:That's all I can stands. I can stands no more!!! (Popeye, 1937).

The old cement floor story goes back to when battery cells were GLASS, and there was a possibility of breakage and acid loss. No need to worry with modern batteries.

Seaweed- you can charge each battery separately with a 12 volt charger. Your on-board charger simply sends 12 volts to each battery- no difference.

Anyone who has stored a partially discharged battery since last fall will have reduced their battery life, period. Fully charged batteries in good condition normally take very little if any charge over the winter.

CCB- lurking gets too frustrating... almost choked when I read about pike not biting because they lose their teeth in winter...

WOW...as I was reading this thread I was think that CCB always has good advice on Batteries...and ZAM! He posts the answer.

BTW I always thought is was walleye that lost their teeth in the summer?

cheers'

-et

Post by **fishforfun** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:37 pm

Thanks CCB I nearly quoted that myth earlier today, up until now I believed it

Nice to see you again!

Post by **TroutSlayer** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:54 pm

icescool wrote:A battery that can't recharge when not in use is a useless battery. Why? Because when you leave a battery still and its voltage can't come back to 12.7 volts then it has had it days. Iâ€™m not talking about crank amperage. Iâ€™ve seen battery perform everyday and I have a good sense about it. Iâ€™ve taken courses on this and I have asked questions about it. They say the same thing as me. If your battery can't go back to 12.7 volts then there is no point in charging it. If you charge it one hour after fishing the memory will not be the same because you did not drain the voltage. The memory will go to the point that you started and when you finished. A battery has to be drained and then recharged so your battery will have good memory of a full charge. If you charge it half way then you will have a battery that will give you half the time of use.

Icescool, Thanks for your detailed reply. I really need to question the course you took, check your notes please. A lead acid battery can not develop memory problems! period.

Nicads are the ones that develop a memory if not properly cycled. Total discharge and recharge will remove the memory.

Lead acid batteries suffer from different problems. To fully discharge any lead acid battery, whether a car battery or a deep cycle battery will ruin the battery quickly. The problem is "Sulfation". A discharged lead acid battery forms lead sulfate which settles in the bottom of the case causing voltage drop and plate problems, and eventually a battery that will no longer hold a charge.

The best way to encourage long life in your deep cycle lead acid battery is to limit discharge to 20% of charge and to charge it frequently and as soon as possible after use.

Not everyone can limit their discharge to 20%, to do so would mean many spare batteries, but that is the ideal amount to prolong life.

I maintain hundreds of lead acid batteries monthly for backup/standby power systems. I too have taken battery manufacture's courses.

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