Another Battery question

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giolic

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I'm on the hard in the northeast and leave my battery charger on since i have access to 50 amp power.

Good or Bad to leave it on ?

The boat's about an hour from home so I don't get down there much in the winter to check on it.

Does the near zero weather have an effect ?
 
Depends on the type of batteries and the type of charger. No problem if batteries are AGMs and charger is a 3-stage 'smart' charger. Not so good if batteries are watering type and charger isn't smart type.
 
I knew I'd leave out something important

Yes , smart charger but I'm not sure of the battery types. One bank is for turning over my detriot 671's and the other is my house batteries. I do have the yard check the water levels
 
"I do have the yard check the water levels"

Which means that they are "flooded" type. ( vs AGM, for instance ) You can "check the water levels" ONLY on flooded types. SLA, AGM and Gel ( and other, more obscure, types ) cannot be checked.

Flooded types -should- be ok in freezing weather IF kept fully charged. I do not know off hand just how cold is "ok". ( I'm from the South. We do not have these problems. ) I "think" degrees zero is not a problem for a fully charged flooded type. ( Mfgrs have such data on their website... )

As rapscallion states, a "smart charger" ( 3 or 4 stage ) should care for the battery properly, but all other types of chargers likely will not.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Radioactive

"I do have the yard check the water levels"

Which means that they are "flooded" type. ( vs AGM, for instance ) You can "check the water levels" ONLY on flooded types. SLA, AGM and Gel ( and other, more obscure, types ) cannot be checked.

Click to expand...

That kinda depends on the mechanic. You can tell someone else to check the water level in ANY kind of battery, and he may (or may not) get back to you that the levels can't be checked. Best to find out for sure what kind of batteries they are.
 
Occasional charging is all that is required. Untended charging over long periods may cause problems. Fully charged batts will only freeze at -50 or so. If you have someone reliable then charging for a few days while checking water and charge level every month would be nice. Other wise charge them when you start getting the boat ready in spring. IMO batts are more tolerant of being left alone than over charging.
 
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