leaving my batteries in for the winter

[Evil Sports]

Its too much of a hassle for me to remove 3 batteries so Im trying to come up with a strategy to keep um good over the winter. I have a 3 bank charger and was thinking of plugging it in once a month for a day. Will that be good enough?

 

[Bruce]

Why not leave the charger plugged in all the time? That is what I do. I am assuming that any 3 bank charger is an onboard charger that is rated to maintain batteries.

 

[Evil Sports]

So you would leave it plugged in from November till May?

 

[DeadlyFrog]

My charger is on the batteries any time Im not using the boat, this also includes Oct. till early May.

 

[Julian]

I recall reading a post from someone who put their charger on a timer and just ran it an hour a day through the winter. Makes sense as the batteries shouldnt need much of a charge.

 

[Rigger]

So you would leave it plugged in from November till May?

I leave my in the boat year round, plugged into a three bank charger.

 

[Bruce]

So you would leave it plugged in from November till May?

Mine Is plugged in year round. The charger is designed to maintain the batteries.

I have a constant load from the refrigerator so my charger gets a workout. I turn the fridge on at the beginning of the boating season and turn it off at the end. It has been on since mid March this year.

 

[seadude]

Even on a charger, not sure it's a good idea to "store" the batteries in freezing conditions...
I envy the warm climate e-series with the solar trickle chargers - several months of "storage" is basically just leaving the boat alone!

 

[Ronnie]

The convenience of not having to pull the batteries out and not having to bring a charger / maintainer to the boat are the main benefits of buying and installing one for me.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Leave it on year round as long as it's a smart charger. You'll extend battery life this way.

 

[Mainah]

Three points.

1. Make sure your smart charger is smart. Yamaha does not connect the red loop wire on the dvsr to an engine on wire or a switch which defeats a smart charger being smart. I cut the red loop and connected to a engine on wire so dvsr only engages when when the engines are on and the start battery is in good health. Removing the small black dvsr ground wire storage would be a temporary method for storage but don't forget to hook it back up next year.
2. If the boat is stored in a location where the temperature is regularly below 40f or above 110f then moving the batteries and smart charger to an temperature controlled location for storage is better for the charger and the batteries. I moved my batteries and dual bank smart charger to my basement workbench for storage here in Maine.
3. If your batteries are not a sealed type make sure to check/fill each cell's electrolyte level to the fill line prior to storage. I have sealed AGMs so no need for me to do this.

Lastly it is not a bad idea to turn off or disconnect anything that can draw power with the battery switches off. Now back to watching football, drinking beer, eating, and shouting at the TV.

 

[Evil Sports]

Well in the past I didnt plug it in often during the winter and didnt have bad results. Im not really up for replacing 2 blue optimas and a sealed starting battery.
She will get wrapped next weekend and I will likely try to plug it in 1 or 2 weekend a month. I say that now but I will plug it in and forget to go back for .......
In the end its only $$