Winterizing & Batteries?

[GR8_Outdoorsman]

I am winterizing my boat and I was curious what you guys think would be best for the batteries. I have an onboard charger w/ a built-in maintainer. I was thinking that I would just leave the charger plugged in to keep the batteries charged. Would it be better to remove the batteries or just disconnect all of the wiring? Thanks for your input.

By the way, I live in south-east texas and the winters aren't very harsh here. The boat will be garaged all winter as well.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Winterizing & Batteries?

It depends on how well controlled the "maintainer" feature of your on-board charger is. Some are not well designed and may cook the battery. My boat is stored inside so I can touch it every now and then. My wiring stays connected, and the charger stays plugged in from November until ice-out. It is not really necessary to have the charger turned on continually. Just plug it in once a month for a few hours and it will survive nicely.

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: Winterizing & Batteries?

If you have a built in maintainer on your charging system on board then I think you'll be fine leaving thr batteries on the boat. If you lived in the north east like I do, I take the batteries out and put them on a trickle charger in my basenent to keep them warm. Also I can fully inspect the batteries when they are in my house.