House Batteries

[Cinders1]

I did a search looking for this info but didn't find anything pertaining specifically to our MH. 2015 29' Georgetown. Getting ready to store for the winter and want to know about house batteries. I don't believe there will be any power in the storage facility. Right now, the house battery is turned off (just inside the door). It had been in the shop for a few fixes and they winterized it for us and when we picked it up, that switch was off. So...Do we keep it off for the 5-ish months it will be in storage? NOTHING is listed in the manual. WHY don't they have manuals for specific models!! grrrrrr! ANNOYING!!

Thanks!

[Podivin]

What *I* would do if I had to long term store without power would be to remove the batteries, bring them home, and connect them to a battery maintainer. Or even just bring them home and put them someplace that won't deep freeze, then give them a full charge before taking them back to the RV when it's time to go again.

There are generally parasitic loads on both battery banks that will continue to drain the batteries even with the switch off, I'd guess the odds are against you finding charged batteries at the end of the 5 months.

If you decide to take them out of the RV take a LOT of pictures, from multiple angles, so that you can hook everything up again come spring. When you think you've taken enough pictures, take a bunch more.
Be sure and have backups of those pictures, in case something happens to the device used to take them. You DON'T want to have to try and figure out what all of those wires and cables do and where they should be connected.

[WorldCat25]

The switch inside the door does not disconnect the battery. Some devices inside will continue to operate (smoke and propane detectors) and will draw down the batteries to zero. Not sure where you are storing your rig (how cold will it get) but I suggest you either remove the batteries or at least disconnect the positive cable at the terminal. (wrap the wire end with tape to prevent an accidental contact). Make sure the batteries are fully charged before doing this.

I installed a cut off switch to do the same thing.

[twinboat]

Some RVs, including my 2017 Thor, do disconnect everything, including the propane detector, with the switch near the door, so it depends.

Safest and easiest thing is to remove the negetive terminals from the batteries and leave it alone.

Fully charged batteries will last for 4 to 6 months in storage and will not freeze.

My boat has 11 batteries, in not lugging them home in the winter.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Fully charged batteries will last for 4 to 6 months in storage and will not freeze.

I'd call that optimistic, especially in a freezing climate. I wouldn't want to gamble on more than 3 months, and that's with relatively new batteries and the ground cable disconnected. Even my car battery won't last 4-6 months.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

I'd call that optimistic, especially in a freezing climate. I wouldn't want to gamble on more than 3 months, and that's with relatively new batteries and the ground cable disconnected. Even my car battery won't last 4-6 months.

Tell that to all of the boaters and Rvers up in the Mid West and New England who store over the long winters.

I leave all of my batteries, mower, scooter, jet ski, pickup, pontoon boat, unhooked for 6 to 7 months a year in Northern NY, while I winter in FL.

Lead acid bateries have a self discharge rate of 3% to 4% per month depending on temperature.

https://northeastbattery.com/battery...cid-batteries/

[shootist]

If the acid level in a battery is good it's not going to physically freeze above -30 even after a long winter. And in alaska our car batteries started our cars at 62 below. But being cold , they don't put out much, so don't plan on storing them and middle of a severe cold snap going down and starting it up.

[Gary RVRoamer]

If the acid level in a battery is good it's not going to physically freeze above -30

Right, but the acid concentration (specific gravity) decreases as the charge deteriorates. As the SOC nears 50%, the freeze point goes UP to around 0 F. At 20% SOC, it's about 19 F.


See the SOC vs freeze table from Trojan: https://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/WP...orage_0512.pdf

Tell that to all of the boaters and Rvers up in the Mid West and New England who store over the long winters.

LOL - I just did. Born and raised in central NY myself and never left batteries in boats or other equipment over the winter. Not if I expected good performance the following summer. Maintaining the charge over months of inactivity is "best practice", whether absolutely necessary or not. Your mileage may vary.


I'll grant that disconnecting batteries goes a long way toward preserving charge in the off-season. May be enough if the battery is in good condition and fully charged to start with.

[Bobby F]

Up here in Minnesota, I just finished pulling the batteries from the Gold Wing and the RV and putting them in the closet inside my apartment.

I could have left them, disconnected, and chances are they'd be fine.

"Chances are."

This way I get certainty. I've frozen my share of batteries that aren't at 100% on those -35 nights.

(If winter meant a low of maybe 10 degrees, I wouldn't bother.)

[Mark_K5LXP]

Another data point, even among lead acid batteries there can be a difference in self discharge rate based on plate composition. Starting batteries containing antimony or calcium self discharge more quickly than deep cycle with pure lead. Age and cycles of the battery factors in as well, a newer battery self discharges more slowly than an old battery. Obviously removing the batteries and putting them on a maintainer in a location always above freezing is ideal. For less than ideal you do what you can but at a minimum it would be to fully charge and disconnect. Frankly if they self discharge and freeze in 3 months they probably weren't all that good to begin with.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM