Winter Battery Storage Question

mandt

My thinking is to bring my 2 6 volt batteries inside this winter and connect them in series and use this battery tender:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00068XCQU/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I38INSOY2XGF10&colid=SNS4MFMP6VLR
Any problem with that?

db_cooper

I use the same battery tender and it will be fine for this.  I leave it on there year round, but don't bring the batteries indoors as we use our trailer year round.  We're in the PNW and don't get cold snaps longer than a week or two at a time.  I don't plan on taking those 2 heavy beasts out until it's time to replace them.

JandJ92010

I take my batteries out and put them in the garage for the winter, (NE Ohio). Constantly monitor the voltage and put the charger on them when they need it, maybe two or three times from fall to spring.

Haloo

Anyone just leave their T@B connected to shore power all winter to keep the battery charged?

db_cooper

Haloo,.

There's lots of threads on here that point out that the on board charger isn't the best for maintaining long term.  They don't fully charge the battery due to the voltage not stepping up, and they don't really have a good float charge. 

 If you mostly use hookups, the health of your battery may not matter much, and the on board charger is ok.   If you invest in better batteries for boondocking, it's worth using a better charger for your investment.

jkjenn

I use the battery shut off switch and use a solar maintainer.

Haloo

db_cooper said:

Haloo,.

There's lots of threads on here that point out that the on board charger isn't the best for maintaining long term.  They don't fully charge the battery due to the voltage not stepping up, and they don't really have a good float charge. 

 If you mostly use hookups, the health of your battery may not matter much, and the on board charger is ok.   If you invest in better batteries for boondocking, it's worth using a better charger for your investment.

Ahh...thanks!  We have solar and plan to do a lot of boondocking.  I’ll pick up a battery tender, and may even pull the battery into our garage where it stays around 50-55 degrees throughout the winter.

Haloo

jkjenn said:

I use the battery shut off switch and use a solar maintainer.

We live in the cloudy, rainy NW, and our house is surrounded by tall trees.  A couple of years ago we had over 90 straight days of rain here. So if I used the battery shut off switch, would the few hours of cloud filtered sun we get be enough to keep our battery charged with the 200w of solar panels on our camper?

ColoradoJon

The Deltran Battery Tender Plus is an excellent charger and maintainer!  Even the smaller Junior version is great for float charging over the winter while in storage.  I would get the Battery Tender Plus as it has temperature compensation.

Haloo

ColoradoJon said:

The Deltran Battery Tender Plus is an excellent charger and maintainer!  Even the smaller Junior version is great for float charging over the winter while in storage.  I would get the Battery Tender Plus as it has temperature compensation.

Thanks Jon.  I think I’ll go with the BT Plus.