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Should I remove houseboat batteries for the winter?

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dgross

New member
First time winterizing this houseboat. Is it better to leave the batteries in the boat with a multistage charger for the winter or should I remove them and take them home to keep charged? I have one deep cycle battery and two other regular marine batteries?
 
Place batteries on a block of wood,not on concrete,preferably in an area that's not going to freeze and put a trickle charger on them
 
dgross said:
First time winterizing this houseboat. Is it better to leave the batteries in the boat with a multistage charger for the winter or should I remove them and take them home to keep charged? I have one deep cycle battery and two other regular marine batteries?
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Ok, thanks for the feedback!
 
I would just make sure they're fully charged, disconnect them and leave them in the boat for the winter. If they're any good they'll be okay in the spring.
 
It really depends on the charge state of the battery, the health of the battery, and the outside temperature. A fully charged, new or nearly new battery will not freeze until about minus 75 F. A fully discharged battery will freeze at 32 F - the same as water. If the battery is not new, and/or there is a possibility of even one cell being weak, then it would be best to remove them and store them in a dry place where the temperatures will not get below zero.
 
If a battery has a weak cell in it it's not worth keeping over the winter. It will fail on you next summer at the wrong time.
 
chawk_man said:
It really depends on the charge state of the battery, the health of the battery, and the outside temperature. A fully charged, new or nearly new battery will not freeze until about minus 75 F. A fully discharged battery will freeze at 32 F - the same as water. If the battery is not new, and/or there is a possibility of even one cell being weak, then it would be best to remove them and store them in a dry place where the temperatures will not get below zero.
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Thanks, this will help! My deep cycle battery might be going bad so I will be testing them all just to be sure.
 
this is the same advice given to our yard by a battery manufacturer. we pulled a lot of batteries every year, tried it as told, just made sure fully charged, in the spring the battery was good if it cranked, bad if not, dont do it any other way now.
 
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