Success in the next fishing season begins with preparation. And for me, one of the 1st steps to getting ready for next season is to make sure my Marine Batteries are in perfect shape coming into spring. So here are a few easy steps you can do to make sure your batteries are ready for next springs fishing season.
Nice little video. I personally keep my batteries in the boat all winter with no ill effects. The big thing is to make sure they are fully charged when you lay the boat up for extended time. I have an onboard charger (Minnkota precision 10 amp 4 bank) that I plug in once or twice a month for a few hours to make sure the batteries are fully charged. I have been doing this way for over 25 years and it has worked out great every spring. One thing I would add is too check your water level if you have wet cell batteries to make sure they don't go dry. I do that when I store my boat so I know I'm good to go.
My brother in Michigan takes his out of the boat and stores them in an open area of the garage next to the boat but hooked up to his onboard charger. I think he does it just in case a battery lets go when he’s not around somthe battery isn’t in the boat. It also lets him check all connections and keep the bilge area clean for the spring.
I do feel bad for you guys that can’t use your boats right now!
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
Keep them charged and you won't have to worry.
"A 100 percent fully charged battery will not freeze until approximately minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit. A fully discharged battery can freeze at or around 32 degrees," Kimbrough said in a telephone interview. The difference between a fully charged and discharged 12-volt battery is not that big.
Exactly what I said
yes have been doing this for 30years now and never a problem charge them up and leave them alone in a month or so put the charger on them for an hour or so and good to go and mine stay outside in the boat no garage
1990 374V Ranger Still kickin' bass after all these years
I have a minn Kota precision charger w Duracell Agm's I leave my charger plugged in all winterin my garage, from what I understand this will go into a float mode and only maintain charge as needed, second winter doing it ...anything wrong with that? I see everyone saying they unplug and plug back in for a few hours once a month or so. Batteries seemed good as new this season but just wondering if anything wrong with just leaving it plugged in 24/7
Leave mine plugged in. As soon as I back it in the garage I plug it in till the next time out no matter how long. Never had an issue.Originally Posted by kandkkustomzhydrographics
Great was beginning to think I was the only one.
Same. Back it. Plug it up. Leave it and let the technology built-in to the PS4 DeltaVolt do it's thing.
Taking them in/out of the boat during winter is 80's methodology.
I do not keep mine charging 24/7 but I do top them off every three weeks during the winter. Batts last 5 or 6 years.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
--Voltaire
I leave mine in the boat. Plug charger in once a month. I don't see the need to have all the led's lit up 24/7 for the 4-5 months.
Ranger Z-20, Yamaha F225.
I leave charger plugged in all the time also only difference I plug into a timer. Battery charger comes on once a week. This spring will be fifth year for the batteries. I’m south all winter so can’t checkup on the boat.
Triton 2003 TR21
2010 225 HO E-TEC
HHBC
This has been hashed over a bunch, but if you live in a cold climate and the boat or batteries are stored unheated, they will be 100% fine if you top them off, unhook them completely, and let them sit over the winter. I don't want to get into the pissing matches with people over this that I know are going to result from people not believing me, so I'll just leave two pieces of evidence and you can choose to believe me or not. It sure makes life a lot easier!
First piece of evidence is this battery discharge chart from Battery University. Notice that even at 68 degrees, it takes over 6 months for charge level to drop below 75%, and so yes you'd need to plug it in to charge it up before taking it out and using it after the long winter storage (which everyone is going to do regardless):
Second is personal experience: I've been doing this every winter for some time now, but remembered to check voltage before and after storage last winter to give a concrete idea of how well this works. My boat was put up at the beginning of November 2017 with batteries reading 13.02 volts, +/- 0.01 volts. Due to a long winter and late snowfall in the spring, it was the first week of May before I was able to get my boat out of storage - a full 6 months. My batteries read 12.82 volts, +/- 0.01 volts at that time which meant the voltage still indicated 100% charge. This included a January warm up that rose temps into the 40s, and a couple weeks of 60-70 degrees at the end of April/May.
Keep messing around with chargers that might go bad and leaving them hooked up to parasitic draws all winter if you want...I've found my solution!
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
As usual Drew your way of doing things just makes sense to me.
I know I don’t deal with the crazy low temps that you guys deal with but I find it odd that it got down in the 30’s for 3 days last week and my starting battery went the next time I used it. It was “old” 2/15, but it went bad instantly. When I left the house and unplugged the charger the battery was green, an hour later it was at 10.4 volts.
Cant make sense of everything I guess.
2006 Triton SP-185, 2006 Evinrude Etec 90, PowerTech NRS3, Garmin Echomap Plus 73CV & 93SV
Reply With Quote
