Winter battery precautions

[msisco]

Does anyone bring their batteries in for the the winter?
I need to replace the battery on my TT. It's stored outside, not plugged in so I'm thinking it would be best to wait until spring to buy one or store it in the garage until ready for use.

[BFlinn181]

If the battery is fully charged and then disconnected from any parasitic drains, it won't freeze over winter. Why buy a new battery now, it'd be 5 months old or more before you use it.

[ScottyBye]

You may get a lot of different opinions on this and it has been discussed many times on many forums.
Personally I leave mine in but I make sure that they are fully charged, water level is correct and have nothing drawing a ghost charge from them. And I also have a small solar cell that keeps them topped off through a regulator.

If I was storing a TT for the winter and not using it I would remove the batteries and store appropriately for the colder winter months. Easy,,,

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by ScottyBye

You may get a lot of different opinions on this and it has been discussed many times on many forums.
Personally I leave mine in but I make sure that they are fully charged, water level is correct and have nothing drawing a ghost charge from them. And I also have a small solar cell that keeps them topped off through a regulator.

If I was storing a TT for the winter and not using it I would remove the batteries and store appropriately for the colder winter months. Easy,,,

That's the point I highlighted in red, what's appropriate? A fully charged battery with a specific gravity of 1.265 will not freeze the electrolyte until -67º F (-55ºC) If it gets colder than that ---MOVE. A dead or near dead battery, with a specific gravity of 1.15 will freeze at 5º F (-15ºC) A disconnected battery will hold almost the whole charge while in storage.

By the way, all the old stories of only storing batteries on wood and never on concrete is an old wives tale, Maybe in the old days a battery could be hurt by being contact with damp concrete, but newer plastic battery cases are immune to discharge.

[ScottyBye]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

That's the point I highlighted in red, what's appropriate?

To me appropriate storage would mean things like:
Away from children and animals.
Protecting the terminals against accidental cross contact.
In an area with proper ventilation.
Mostly common sense things which sometimes get overlooked.
Maybe even a few more that I am not thinking of.

[nothermark]

You won't freeze a fully charged battery but a battery that is disconnected will still run down over time due to internal leakage. That moves things towards taking the batteries out and storing them in a place where one can occasionally top off the charge. The longer they will sit the more of an issue it becomes.

BTW one should also factor in charging the engine battery on most RV's as only the higher end units have a maintainer system for the engine battery when plugged in.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by ScottyBye

To me appropriate storage would mean things like:
Away from children and animals.

Leaving batteries in their battery compartment covers this

Protecting the terminals against accidental cross contact.

Ditto the battery compartment.

In an area with proper ventilation.

Again, the battery compartment in the RV.


Mostly common sense things which sometimes get overlooked.
Maybe even a few more that I am not thinking of.

If you want to bring the batteries inside, out of the RV, then the possibility of kids, ventilation, shorting the terminals become an issue.

Also, make sure you label cables and wires connected to each battery post, even take photos so in the Spring you don't forget which wire goes where.

[ScottyBye]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

If you want to bring the batteries inside, out of the RV, then the possibility of kids, ventilation, shorting the terminals become an issue.

I thought that was what the OP mean by "bringing the batteries in". Either Garage or other...

Otherwise just stating the obvious.

[nothermark]

FWIW assumed it was stored where you cannot get to it. If it is where you can run a cord out to it just plug it in overnight once every month to top off the charge. Don't forget to connect the battery/throw the storage switch. Leave it off other wise or you will run down the battery. Keeping a voltmeter handy to check the state of charge would let you adjust the charging interval.

[tcg]

I just put mine away. Batteries are disconnected with a manual switch and fully charged. In the spring I'll turn the switch and off I go.

I come from the boating industry and years ago storage places used to offer a service where they would pull your batteries and keep them charged through the winter. I remember shelves of batteries and many batteries all hooked together with a large charger hooked up to them.

Now a days the boats just go into storage with the batteries disconnected and in the spring just hook them up and off they go.

Occasionally I will see a tech with a battery pack because a battery is dead but not that often.

Plus I really have no place to store mine other than my unheated garage so leaving them in the rv is a good a place as any.

[msisco]

Originally Posted by nothermark

FWIW assumed it was stored where you cannot get to it. If it is where you can run a cord out to it just plug it in overnight once every month to top off the charge. Don't forget to connect the battery/throw the storage switch. Leave it off other wise or you will run down the battery. Keeping a voltmeter handy to check the state of charge would let you adjust the charging interval.

No power readily available. By storage switch do you mean the main breaker?

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by msisco

No power readily available. By storage switch do you mean the main breaker?

No, I believe he's talking about a battery disconnect switch usually located near the door. On Class A and C RVs, this switch disconnects most drains on battery for storage. If you just remove the negative cable from the battery post, it isolates the battery and it won't lose charge. I stored my RV 5 months, from November to March one winter at a storage yard while out of the country. When I returned, the RV started on first try.

[select55]

Originally Posted by msisco

Does anyone bring their batteries in for the the winter?
I need to replace the battery on my TT. It's stored outside, not plugged in so I'm thinking it would be best to wait until spring to buy one or store it in the garage until ready for use.

why worry u said u need a new one.;;Just fully charge then disconnect
the battery cable and all is well;;
there is noting else to do or worry about;; EOS

[TonyMac]

WOW, no one said 'leave a trickle charger or tender on the batteries', either installed or stored. I plug in my MH which keeps the house batteries charged, and put tenders on the chassis batteries. Wish I had a BIRD. I don't worry about parasitic draws, as the tenders keep tending to that.