BATTERY REMOVAL?

[Karalyn]

Does everyone remove their battery for the winter in the northern climate, or is it ok to leave it on the camper for the winter? If leaving it on, do you need to recharge it every so often?

[pjanits]

I pull mine and put it on a maintainer charger in the garage.
I bought the charger from Walmart, I think it was about 15 bucks.

[drew l.]

Mine goes in the basement, I set it on a board and keep it warm. I have heard that they drain out faster sitting on concrete. I dont know for sure if this is true, but it's not much trouble to put a board under it just in case. (I have considered dust ruffles, but maybe thats too much.)

[Brian B-P]

Originally posted by drew l.@Nov 14 2005, 03:29 PM
Mine goes in the basement, I set it on a board and keep it warm. I have heard that they drain out faster sitting on concrete. I dont know for sure if this is true...

I can't see any physical reason for the concrete floor being a problem, unless unsealed cement chemically attacks the battery case, although that's probably the coldest - and therefore worst - place for a battery.

I brought my battery in for last winter, which still wasn't enough to save the thing, which I guess was marginal when it came to me. I bought a battery maintainer (float charger) for this winter, which I intend to alternate between the lawn tractor and the trailer battery, with a second maintainer to be purchased if it turns out to be helpful enough to want one full-time on each. The tractor will be used in the winter to plow snow, so I need to keep it functional, not just keep it from being destroyed by excessive self-discharge.

The trailer will have power from an extension cord while parked for the winter, so I could leave the battery out there and still hook up the maintainer, but I would rather have it inside a heated area.

[Gina D.]

I use my rig year round, so the battery never leaves unless it needs to be changed. It gets used too often.

But on the few snow days I have, I plug in the trailer to charge. I also have a little heater going too, just to keep things from freezing.

Not an option for all, I know.

[Chester Taje]

I leave mine in all year round.Just make sure it is fully charged.Never had a problem

[Karalyn]

Never had a problem in Alaska? How often do you charge it Chester?

[Roger H]

I leave mine in all winter too. I disconnect both batteries in the Airstream, but leave them in with a full charge. I leave the battery in on the FG trailer, charged.

Roger

[Chester Taje]

Originally posted by Karalyn@Nov 14 2005, 08:11 PM
Never had a problem in Alaska? How often do you charge it Chester?

I never had to charge them during the winter The are checked once a month and thats all I do.

[Benny K]

I remove batteries out of both trailers,field tractor,and any other winter parked vehicles....these are stored in an unheated attached garage in which the winter temps can reach -35 F degrees or so, just for the ease of checking the voltages now and then.....in my lawn tractor at the cottage I used to leave the battery in the machine connected up over the winter, unchecked, and in the spring just hit the starter and cut grass....my last battery there lasted 6 years...not too shabby for a battery that had a 2 years warranty......at home the lawn tractor battery stays in the mower in a shed over the winter and the one in the garden tractor stays in a heated shop and is used to blow snow......If a battery is good to start with, it`ll hold most of its charge over the winter in the cold because in those temps, the discharge is negligible......if they are kept in a warm environment you`ll probably have to float charge them as they will slowly discharge..... and as usual, to each his own.... Benny

[Steve L.]

I leave mine in. I leave the trailer plugged in but I turn off the charger side of the coverter. There's a circuit breaker for the charger side. Then, about once a month I run the charger for a day and take a quick look around. Sorta get my trailer "fix". This will be the first year with a cover but I don't expect it'll prevent me from slipping in every so often.

[Maggie O.]

Mine stays in connected to a solar panel.

[Brian B-P]

Originally posted by Benny K+Nov 14 2005, 11:29 PM-->

My comment about the coldest area being the worst is based on the risk of freezing. If the battery stays sufficiently charged to not freeze, then maybe cold is good to reduce discharge - I suppose there's some optimal point, but I don't know what that is. I am confident that warm and on float charge works, but it is the most work (removal, buy and set up maintainer, replace for use...).

<!--QuoteBegin-Maggie O.@Nov 15 2005, 08:55 AM
[b]Mine stays in connected to a solar panel...

...through a charge controller? A large enough panel will eventually fry a battery, because it is an unregulated source of power. A small enough panel may never be able to push enough current through the charged battery to hurt it. A charge controller regulates voltage - or just shuts off at an appropriately high voltage and on again at a lower voltage - like the control section of an automatic battery charger/maintainer.