Winter Care of Batteries

[ianc1200]

What is the best way of looking after your batteries? I've got them off the boat - would it have been better to leave on board still attached to the solar panels? - and was thinking of buying a Halfords car battery charger and giving a few hours charging for each one per month.

Any thoughts?

IanC

 

[Mrnotming]

A battery charger with a de-sulphation cycle would be nice for your batteries. These are often not very powerful but do a good topping up and maintenance job.Some were sold from time to time in LIDL and Aldi, but I'm sure other outlets have them too.Get some information on your batteries from the manufacturers website as regards the proper charging regime, i.e. golf cart types go up to 16 v and beyond but this would wreck a more specialist battery say gel type.Marine batteries also come in many diffferent construction types. Good idea to remove them from the boat to somewhere warm and dry, and nice to find them fully charged in spring!( a timeclock on the charger mains supply would give you the option of a short period each day to keep them in full charge).Good wintering!

 

[PeterGibbs]

All these issues coverd in depth over the last 2 weeks. No need to repeat - suggest you look them up.


PWG

 

[Alfie168]

Reading from my "Electrics Afloat". Lead acid batteries should not be discharged below 50% charge, but cheaper batteries & alternatoprs can only ever achieve about 80% charge because of internal resistance.( presumably better quality ones can achieve higher charge then).They should also not be overcharged as this causes gassing and loss of electrolyte.

What I'd suggest you need is a charger that once it reaches full charge goes in maintainance or 'float' charge at a slightly reduced voltage which is just under the figure that causes gassing. I only have a small battery and use a fairly low cost fully automatic charger from Argos which maintains a 'float' charge after charging. If you have high capacity batteries then you will need a better quality unit than mine. Non automatic chargers, if left connected all the time, will cause damage.

On the other hand you could use an ordinary charger and connect it overnight every three weeks or so, just to keep it topped up. This means you keep your battery as close to 100% charged as you can realistically achieve.

I have paraphrased quite a lot here, but hope that those with more electrical knowledge than I can confirm I have got it broadly correct.

Tim

 

[Haven't-a-Clue]

I have a back-up battery for use in the car or on the boat. I keep it in the garage attached to a halfords charger on a timer that gives it a 1/2 hour charge each day. Seems to work, question in my mind is am I doing it harm or good? It seems to hold a decent charge, 'cos I used it a couple of weeks ago to jump start a 2.5 litre diesel.

 

[wigen]

- Make sure the batteries is 100% charged (please note; not all chargers are able to charge up to 100%).
- Clean the batteries around the terminals.
- Make sure the fluid is around 5mm above the lead sheets.
- Store the batteries dry and cold (in the boat). Fully charged batteries can resist up to minus 70 degree centigrade.
- Charge the batteries every three months.

 

[Haven't-a-Clue]

That's pretty much what I'm doing except the dry and cold (in the boat) bit, so ta very much for that, it's a relief!

 

[vyv_cox]

I remember watching a man in a boatyard unloading his batteries by lowering them to the ground on a rope. His knot failed and a battery smashed on the ground. It begs the question 'what is gained by taking them away?'

I have never taken mine home in 20 years of cruising. Even in the coldest winter it is rare for deep freezing conditions to occur on the edge of the sea in UK and it would have to be exceptionally cold to freeze a battery acid solution. Much better to leave it where it is and charge with your solar panel. That's what I have done for many years - my last set of batteries lasted seven years, current set up to four years now and going well.

When I have left vehicles parked for years at a time, in my ex-pat period, I used to charge for four hours per week. Batteries remained good and the vehicle never failed to start on the rare occasions that we came home. It's much colder in my garage in the hills of North Wales than it ever is near the coast.

 

[VicS]

It is often said that abattery should not be stored on a concrete floor!

 

[Alfie168]

Mine comes home because its too easy to pinch...Dunno about the concrete floor bit, it can only be a temperature thing surely. Put it on an old rubber car footwell mat then.

Tim

 

[pvb]

[ QUOTE ]
It is often said that abattery should not be stored on a concrete floor!

[/ QUOTE ]But only by people who don't know better!

 

[jimbaerselman]

A canard, surely?

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
A canard

[/ QUOTE ] Maybe, maybe not.
My theory is that if a battery is stored on any cold surface such that there is a temprature difference between the top and bottom then because electrode potentials are temperature dependent there can be a small difference between the tops and bottoms of the plates causing a small current flow in the plates which will lead to sulphation over a prolonged period.

A concrete floor could create those conditions.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Ah. Not a canard. A wild goose chase.

I suspect that temperature gradients, if any, would stabilise within 24 hours . . .

 

[ianc1200]

Thanks for all the replies,

regards

IanC