Where is safe to store and charge my scamp battery?

[CampyTime]

So much conflicting information on the internet, so I came here for the intelligent folks.

I've had my group 27 scamp battery on a battery tender (good one with float mode) and have elevated on a wooden cart below my basement stairs. It has been -20 below out here in buffalo area, so was reticent to put in garage to charge.

I got afraid today from doing other reading that batteries can let off hydrogen gas and kaboom. I took the damn thing off the charger today. It's in my basement with obviously no venting to outdoors. Where the heck should I store this thing? My garage is not airtight but it's super frigid outside. Now I'm nervous I'll blow my house up.

I do have my lawn tractor battery in the garage and I alternate charging it with my generator battery, so it's outside and I don't make any sense. But I don't think those are deep cycle batteries...???

Help soon please cuz I wanna get it out of here now if I'm supposed to.

Wendy and much obliged.


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[C&G in FL]

I charged batteries in the basement for years when I lived in the northeast. Put it back on the trickle charger and stop worrying about it.


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[Pineapple Man]

We recently bought our 2011 Scamp from a couple who charged theirs in the basement, if that helps any. We have it next the basement wall in the garage (where the outlet is)

[Nancy]

We store ours in the basement. Since we can easily have -30 to -40 night temps we do not leave it out during the winter. If we lived in a milder climate we would not take it in.

[CampyTime]

While waiting to hear from anybody at all, I took the battery out to the garage. Supposed to be -2 tonight, but I put it back on the Battery Tender as I read somewhere that a charged or charging battery won't freeze.

I had the battery on a wood shelf, below the basement stairs, where I store paints and other cleaners, products, etc. in the winter. Basement is only "partially" heated, meaning it's still rather cool down there.

Read that batteries do better in the cool, as far as discharging goes. So it was probably cool enough, but then started reading about hydrogen gas, and a couple of write ups on the internet about waries of storing in a basement. I dunno...don't have much to go by other than what people teach me. So I got rid of it for tonight, and it's colder than a....you fill in the blank...out there.

The battery tender does have a float mode, so it's not a trickle charger that will put a constant amperage on the batt. To be honest, CPW and others, I always stored my pop up camper battery in the basement, too. Didn't know any better, never bothered to read anything.

Ignorance is bliss, well, at least it saves worrying about stuff you don't know much about!

[EcoHeliGuy]

1) make sure you clean the exterior case. Water and baking soda is all you need, clean until the probes of a multimeter do not indicate voltage when one probe is placed on a terminal and the other probe placed near the base of the other terminal on the plastic surface. Test both terminals this way.

2) Your battery won't freeze when charged, cars sit at -40 and start.
The cold doesn't harm your battery, only slows the discharge rate. High heat will harm a battery.

3) Hydrogen gas is lighter then air, so will rise. It's produced when the acid bubbles, directly proportional to the current and voltage being supplied to the battery. Your trickle charger won't produce enough hydrogen while maintaining a battery to worry about. If the battery was dead and you applied a high amperage charge to it, then they bubble like a fresh carbonated drink and release a larger quantity of gas.

With a trickle charger you couldn't produce enough gas to cause a match to flicker.




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[Borrego Dave]

Wendy, Walters post #6 pretty much says it all and replies from others storing batteries in a basement for years with no problems add to the credence of it. Now....if you were storing a 55 gal drum of gas in the basement, then you would have something to worry about

[Paul O.]

My Scamp is outside, under my "Scamport" (just a roof, no sides). After about six weeks and all this cold weather the battery was at about 60%. I strung an AC extension and plugged the Scamp in to charge it up, then took the extension back in. The cold does not harm it when it is charged. As others said, the outgassing is minimal and dissipates quickly when trickle charging. You only have to worry if you draw high current, like we used to do when cranking and jump starting cold cars in the bad old days. (See jumper cable instructions, although they usually say what to do, not why.)

[Darnelle]

I've stored and charged batteries in our garage, shed, and even in the house when necessary (wanted a warm battery to help start snow-moving equipment). Never an issue. I always thought any gases were minimal and the only danger was if they accumulated in a small area like in a storage bin or in the storage area under a camper seat. I do keep batteries in open areas and away from any area I store flammables like paint, turpentine, cleaners, etc.

[Wayne Collins]

A fully charged battery will not freeze.
You can leave it outside, in the Scamp's battery box, but it helps to disconnect the ground (negative) cable. Make sure the top around the posts is clean and dry to prevent a slow discharge. In extreme cold, you are well to bring it inside, but there is no need to keep it on the charger.
Just a quick charge again before you put it back in service.




[QUOTe

I've had my group 27 scamp battery on a battery tender (good one with float mode) and have elevated on a wooden cart below my basement stairs. It has been -20 below out here in buffalo area, so was reticent to put in garage to charge.

[Carol H]

Wendy, as others have indicated having issues with off gassing is more common if the battery was in a small enclosed location such as a trailer hatch. I don't think the off gassing would be my biggest concern when storing a battery in a basement providing its in an open area. I would be more concerned about leaving it plugged in to the charger 24/7 in the house and not being home should the charged malfunction.

Having said that though as others have indicated the cold itself is really not the problem.

I am sure someone else will comment but I don't see why if you have fully charged the battery that you can't just leave it in your garage for storage and leave it connected to the Battery tender when your at home or just connected it every once in while for a day or so to keep it charged up. Again I would be concerned about leaving it plugged in to the float charger even in the garage full time and going away though.

The two things that will damage the battery are 1) allowing it to completely discharge 2) over charging. As you have a battery tender with a float charge, neither of those two events should happen. A battery that is good condition and well maintained is not likely to run right down fast simple due to cold weather. As someone else pointed out if that was the case there would be a lot more cars not starting in cold weather.