Chassis and house batteries during storage help needed

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by campfiregirl

Now I am getting worried! I am leaving my motorhome in covered storage w/o electricity for 5 mths while I travel to Australia. I was just going to charge both my house and chassis batteries up and disconnect the cables until I returned. Will that be wise? Do I have to find someone one somewhere I can take my batteries to for them to babysit them with a trickle charger? I bought them new this year (Interstate)

Charged batteries, disconnected from any loads, should be fine for 5 months.

[lacdubonnet]

that's exactly what you should do anything more is over kill

[TinMan Trvlr]

We have learned to ensure that any batteries in equipment like motor homes, motor cycles, boats, lawn tractors, etc. that we store need to be provided with self regulating trickle chargers like those made by Yuasa or Battery Tender to ensure they do not get damaged by sulfating as they sit unused.

Spending $30 to $100 for the right capacity self regulating charger set up for the number or size of batteries you have will ensure you do not shorten their life or worse, ruin them, the first time you put them in storage. The chargers can be connected up so one charger services several batteries if you don't want to have a separate charger for each different size/type of battery.

Google battery storage to learn about the "self discharging" process that takes place while batteries sit unused, what it takes, to maintain proper voltage, etc. If taken out of the vehicle for storage, ensure that they are not set on a cold concrete floor or steel bench while stored by placing a piece of lumber under them. Connect your choice of a self regulating 110 volt or solar type charger and save yourself many times the small cost of the charger instead of paying to replace expensive batteries that can be ruined in as little as 2 months while in storage. After replacing several motorcycle, car, and boat batteries we found that the charger paid for itself the first time we used it, and they last for many years if not shorted out or allowed to get wet. You do need to ensure that the electrolite levels in the batteries are checked occasionally during the storage period to ensure that the battery has not been boiled dry while the charger is trying to maintain a charge.

Best wishes for success in your storage plans.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by TinMan Trvlr

We have learned to ensure that any batteries in equipment like motor homes, motor cycles, boats, lawn tractors, etc. that we store need to be provided with self regulating trickle chargers like those made by Yuasa or Battery Tender to ensure they do not get damaged by sulfating as they sit unused.

Spending $30 to $100 for the right capacity self regulating charger set up for the number or size of batteries you have will ensure you do not shorten their life or worse, ruin them, the first time you put them in storage. The chargers can be connected up so one charger services several batteries if you don't want to have a separate charger for each different size/type of battery.

Google battery storage to learn about the "self discharging" process that takes place while batteries sit unused, what it takes, to maintain proper voltage, etc. If taken out of the vehicle for storage, ensure that they are not set on a cold concrete floor or steel bench while stored by placing a piece of lumber under them. Connect your choice of a self regulating 110 volt or solar type charger and save yourself many times the small cost of the charger instead of paying to replace expensive batteries that can be ruined in as little as 2 months while in storage. After replacing several motorcycle, car, and boat batteries we found that the charger paid for itself the first time we used it, and they last for many years if not shorted out or allowed to get wet. You do need to ensure that the electrolite levels in the batteries are checked occasionally during the storage period to ensure that the battery has not been boiled dry while the charger is trying to maintain a charge.

Best wishes for success in your storage plans.

snopes.com: Do Cement Floors Ruin Car Batteries?

I call bogus. My RV sat from end of Nov. to March through an Ohio winter disconnected and no charger. In addition, they sit in steel racks in the RV. About mid March I went to the storage yard, (having spent time in Denver, Australia and New Zealand) closed the knife switches and started both the diesel engine and the generator with no special tricks needed.

[campfiregirl]

All righty then! I will stick with the man from Canada and Mr. Flinn's advice. If it works for you it should work for me.. Thanks a lot!

[lacdubonnet]

just make sure fully charged and disconnect cables and that's it no chargers etc.
I live in Canada where it's up to-45 degrees and that's what I do for winter storage.

not to alarm you but with interstate batteries had one blow up in my face it was built wrong in mexico.there quality has gone down in the last few years.

anyways have safety glasses when working around them also I removed those batteries and replaced them with Trojan batteries,not to say it will happen again be careful

[TeJay]

Yes it is best to trickle charge any wet cell batter every month. This will assure the best and longest life from any storage battery. If you can't do it as stated I wouldn't worry about it even for 3-5 months. Disconnecting it does prevent some paralytic drain. Keeping it in a cold location slows down the molecular action that is always present in a storage battery. One could take them home and put them on a weekly timer for trickle charging for 4-5 hours every week. Put them in a basement where it's cool hook the charger to all the batteries and set your timer.

Bob,
Thanks for the support about putting a car battery on a concrete floor. I've fought that old myth for 40 years. It just never made any sense to me. The battery is stored in your vehicle and for many, many years it sat on a metal frame. Every year in the class room when we talked about batteries I had a few kids who argued with me and didn't ever believe my facts.

It always reminds me of the story concerning why there is no upper bar on a girls bike and yet there was always one on a boys bike. We guys know how it hurts and often wished we didn't have one. Well the practice started back in the 1890's because girls did not wear or ever go out in shorts but had long dresses and they couldn't get on a bike if there was a bar so they didn't put one on. Kinda of like the side saddles for horses.

That 115 year old tradition is still alive today. Almost every single manufacturer of all kinds of bicycles still make a girls and boys model.

TeJay

[BFlinn181]

Tejay, I'm a retired educator as well and have always tried to educate about urban myths. Unfortunately the interweb has caused false information to be repeated and distributed faster than the truth. I agree, your suggestions are the best way to preserve the batteries. In the case of the OP, she's a full timer and doesn't have a basement or place to store the batteries other than her wheeled home, thus I suggested a way that's second best.

[TeJay]

Bob,
Your point is taken well. Retired is a good thing. It's amazing how trying to stamp out misinformation seems to be a never ending mission and I know I just can't seem to get it out of my system. On the other hand helping people is what we did for a good deal of our life.

TeJay

[Don and Barb]

Car batteries used to be encased in hard rubber, a substance that was porous enough that battery acid could seep through it and create a conductive path through the damp concrete, draining the battery. The cases of today’s batteries, however, are made of sturdier stuff that far better contains their contents than those of yesteryear. As well, time has brought technological improvements to the seals around the posts and the vent systems.

These days, the problem of car battery electrolyte seepage and migration has been all but eliminated. Says battery manufacturer Yuasa, "Nowadays, containers are made from a solid plastic that does not allow any current to flow through it, so the batteries do not discharge, even if they sit in a few inches of water."

Interestingly, some experts (including Car Talk's Click and Clack) believe that storing car batteries on concrete floors might actually be a better idea than keeping them on shelves or other surfaces because the cold of the floor works to slow the self-discharge (leakage) rate.
Read more at snopes.com: Do Cement Floors Ruin Car Batteries?

[PalmerAlaska]

Being in Alaska and storing the RV for roughly 6 months of winter, I assume removing both the coach and chassis batteries is a good thing. My plan is to store all of the above in a heated garage as the RV will be in covered but unheated storage area for the winter. I also plan to leave a battery tender connected to all 3 all winter. My question is this; I have 2 each 6 volt batteries for the coach. Can I connect them to each other, negative to positive and then use a 12 volt battery tender connected to the other two posts? Any and all advice is appreciated. (That's a lot of "A's".)

[PalmerAlaska]

Being in Alaska, I assume that pulling all batteries out of the RV for the winter is a good thing. My plan is to store them in a heated garage for the winter as the RV will be stored in covered but unheated storage. My question is this: I have 2 each 6V chassis batteries. Can I connect them together in my garage negative to positive and connect a 12V battery tender to the other 2 posts for the winter? That would save me the expense of having to purchase 2 battery chargers/tenders that have 6V capabilities. Any and all advice is appreciated.

[BFlinn181]

You can hook up the 6 v batteries as you described, (series) and connect to a 12 v charger.

[angelmat4]

i bought three solar charger from harbor fright around 20.00 each if you start out with charged batteries it will keep then hot all winter .you do not have to spend big dollars on then these work great