Shore power during winter layout

[cmedsailor]

Is it OK for the batteries to be on shore power for 2-3 months during winter layout (out of the water) when there is not really any usage of them? WIll the continues charge damage them? Batteries are all deep cycle.
Thanks

 

[Chris_Robb]

What are you charging them with?

If its a multistage charger, and the float is down to about 13.5V, then I don't see that there is any problem. I leave mine on the whole winter.

 

[MoodySabre]

Ihave always assumed thast using an intelligent charger is OK. My Cetek clone will charge until full and then go on to a float charge and only put more charge in when the voltage drops.

A cheap car charger shouldn't be left on long term.

 

[[2574]]

My charger floats our AGM's at 13.4v and I leave it on all winter. You just need to make sure that it is a reliable 240v supply because if it is frequently tripped and reset this will cause the charger to restart the 3 stage cycle each time it is reset which will lead to over charging.

rob

 

[cmedsailor]

I don't think it's any special charger. It's the standard charger supplied by Beneteau ("20-Amp battery charger" according to specifications).
One thing though I know for sure is that when charging you can hear a noise, if batteries are fully charge then there is no noise at all.

 

[simonfraser]

you're going to have to put a volt meter on it & find out what the max float voltage is, for my gell battery its 14.4

 

[StugeronSteve]

My Bene charger is left on all year round and hasn't caused any harm. The boat is now seven years old and the house batteries were only replaced when an additional battery was added to the system, they were slightly down but still had life in them. The original cranking battery is still alive and well!

 

[johnalison]

Although I now leave my batteries on float, in the olden days I didn't have this option. Eventually I gave up on humping the batteries home to look after and left them unattended on the boat. The rate of self-discharge in the winter is very low and I never had any trouble. You don't want to let the batteries freeze of course, but the freezing-point is low enough for this to be unlikely in an average winter. Fully charged, the battery will only freeze at below -60C (but fully discharged at near 0).

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Batteries generally like some work to do and not to sit too idle for weeks on end.
I deliberatly put on lights and gizmos for a while on the odd weekend so that my charger ( in my case a wind genny ) brings them back up. I did however have to put the mains charger on in the very long cold spell when we were without wind as they were getting down to the lower 12's. As long as your charger is regulated in some way you should be doing the right thing, but don't be afraid of giving them some load too.