Battery query

[darmoose]

Mystic Rose is in the hard and for the first time (at least for me) she is being winterized.

She has two optima D31 house batteries connected to a 1-2-Both-Off switch, and they are also connected to a 20 amp xantex battery charger (which is turned off and not connected to any electrical source for the winter).

Question is, with the battery switch turned to the off position, which I believe isolates the two batteries from one another, and from the boat electronics and engine, is there anything to be gained by crawling into the cockpit locker and disconnecting the batteries???

Secondly,while I am thinking about it, should I be concerned about leaving the batteries on the boat for the winter without a charging source??

All help and good advice is welcome, and thanks.

Darrell

P.S. Is it advisable to lock one's prop for the winter on the hard, or can you just let it freewheel?

[barfwinkle]

You just had to do it didn't you Darrell. Now we'll have to endure this discussion for months to come!

Fair Winds and

We hope to see you in Havre de Grace

[JWSutcliffe]

I do not disconnect the batteries. With the battery selector switch OFF and no charging over the winter my starting battery still has enough oomph to start the engine in the spring.

[Duncan]

Question is, with the battery switch turned to the off position, which I believe isolates the two batteries from one another, and from the boat electronics and engine, is there anything to be gained by crawling into the cockpit locker and disconnecting the batteries???

Secondly,while I am thinking about it, should I be concerned about leaving the batteries on the boat for the winter without a charging source??

...

P.S. Is it advisable to lock one's prop for the winter on the hard, or can you just let it freewheel?

While I think you could probably get away with just leaving the batteries alone, I believe this will reduce their capacity and shorten their lives.

To keep your batteries in top shape, take them home and float-charge them once a month.

ps. Locked or freewheeled, the prop won't turn in just the wind. It can be your secret.

[Oswego John]

How cold is the average winter where you have your boat?

Fully charged batteries have little chance of freezing. I have a trickle charger hooked up during off season. On my Ty, all I use is a lawn tractor battery which I keep in my heated cellar during off season.

It's a good idea to remove any dirt, dust, acid or other accumulation that builds up on the battery surface. When damp, it provides a mini short circuit between the terminals. Smear some anti-oxide (even vaseline) on the battery terminals.

Rather than lift the battery cables, you might consider removing the positive feeds from the selector switch. While you're at it, this is a good time to use your multi-meter between sundry positive, negative and ground contacts to check for any leakage. Don't forget to tape them with vinyl insulating electricians tape when finished testing.

And yes, when on the hard, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of locking your prop while keeping the tranny in neutral.

Good luck,
O J

[bottomscraper]

The following web page has a table of charge percentage vs freezing point.

A battery at 100% charge won't freeze until -77F
A completely dead battery will freeze at +20F

Typically a frozen battery case will crack and makes a nasty acid mess
that needs to cleaned up. I usually check and charge ours once
a month in the winter.

http://www.jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carf ... eze_points

[Neil Gordon]

Locking your prop while on the hard might definitely slow down someone unfortunate enough to inadvertantly walk into it in its unmovable and unyielding position.

[Paul D.]

For the past 8 seasons I have left the batteries aboard (Northern Wisconsin cold-ass winters folks!) and hooked up to a 60 watt solar panel run through a Ferris regulator. Since the house bank is two T-105 6 volts, I check to make sure they have water. The starter bank is charged through an echo charger.

This has worked well and each spring I have found a full charge on them. Removing the batteries would be a pain. So I reckon any way you can hook up a trickle charger, even an inexpensive one, would help. In fact, this is what Ham Ferris recommended and I fell in love with the simplicity of it.

Now that I've said this, how much you wanna bet I'll have a dead battery next spring?

[Al Levesque]

Some systems have connections that do not go through the master switch and which can draw current without you being aware of it. Even without such connections, there is likely some amount of leakage that will eventually drain your batteries unless you have a way to recharge them as others have said above.

I take mine out and trickle charge them in a warm place over the winter. I got 12 years out of the last set. My brother leaves his in the boat and replaces them every few years, usually after having a problem at launch time.

[Phil Shedd]

I also leave the batteries in but make sure they are fully charges before I close up the boat. The battery selector is in the off position

Having said that my charger is connected directly to my batterys so I leave the charger( only ac device on) on over the winter. The club will turn the power on a couple weekends a winter so I just plug in when the time comes around .This has worked well over the years and insures that things stay charged over the loooong eastern winter.

Haul out today . Things went well, bottom in good shape and I was able to complete some winteizing. Will do some more tomorrow.

Phil

[John Danicic]

Like my brother, I leave the batteries in place and connected through out the long, cold Lake Superior Winters. I keep the batteries topped up by two, 40 watt solar panels and a Trace C35 (now Xantrex C35) controller that counts the amp hours gained. The spot Mariah occupies does not have good solar gain potential so I have never recorded more then 400 amp hours gained through the 7 month storage season. The batteries seem to be fine and fully charged on the happy day I return to open her up in the spring.

During storage, all switches are off but I do disconnect the bilge pump fuse as that is connected direct to the battery just in case it gets the hankering to start pumping for some reason.

Another 15 days or so and the storage season begins. A sad time indeed.


Sail on

John Danicic

CD36 - Mariah- #124
Lake Superior- The Apostle Islands
CDSOA #655

[M. R. Bober]

Locking your prop while on the hard might definitely slow down someone unfortunate enough to inadvertantly walk into it in its unmovable and unyielding position.

An owner properly concerned about the long term effects of "yard prop" would opt to remove the prop rather than allowing it to freewheel over the winter. IMHO

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster (where locking the prop while on the hard is analogous to putting a muzzle on a dog with no teeth.), VA

[Leo MacDonald]

Hi Darrell,
I think some missed the 'AGM' part.
The AGM batteries have a VERY low self-discharge (~2 - 3 % per month.) Top them off before stowage, place the Battery Select Switch to 'OFF' and remove the Bilge Pump fuse (and any other direct connected load fuse) and you should be good for the winter.
If possible, a 25 watt solar panel panel with regulator would keep the batteries topped off. ('Heather Ann', CD30K #57 had this arrangement.)
F/W, Leo

[Larry DeMers]

We have left our banks (3) installed over the past 10 years. Current set of 4 Trojan T105's (2 banks of 2- 6v batt.) still only take a few amphours of charge over the amount removed (indicates a healthy bank). The engine starting battery, a heavy duty truck abttery, is always fully charged in the spring, as are the house and reefer banks.

I take all positive battery cable ends off at the opposite end from the batteries, then bolt them all together along with the output of our 80W solar panel/regulator. The 3 banks do well and do not need to be charged in the spring.

Longevity wise, we are going on 7 years with one Trojan bank, and 10 years with the second. I still get around 100 AH from both, at a low discharge rate like 5A, less at higher rates of course.

Superior winters are long and cold as Paul and John point out, so that makes for a good worst case test of this method.

Cheers,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
CD30c Sailing LAke Superior