Battery Question

R

rh320

Member
Mar 2, 2018
119
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
Boatless
Do most of you remove your batteries and store inside on a trickle charger all winter or do you just disconnect them and leave them in the boat? On my previous small boats and jet skis there were one or two batteries max and so I always stored the batteries inside all winter and then charged them up before reinstalling them in the spring and never had a problem.

I paid a lot money for all new batteries in my 320DA and am wondering if I should remove them and keep them on a trickle charger inside or remove them and just charge them up in the spring or just leave them in place in the boat disconnected all winter?
 
There has been quite a bit of discussion over on the 320DA forum on this subject...
 
There's no one best answer for this as there are variables and opinions. But, if you want some reading material - also look/search for general threads in the last month or two as I think I've seen a couple of them... all with lot's of discussion.
 
rh320 said:
I paid a lot money for all new batteries in my 320DA
Click to expand...
Then id pass on a trickle charger in favor on an on-board multi-stage smart charger if your boat is within reach of an AC outlet. Better for the batteries and no need to go through the trouble of removing them.

As long as there is a main battery switch, no need to disconnect. Turn it off.
 
Wylie_Tunes said:
Then id pass on a trickle charger in favor on an on-board multi-stage smart charger if your boat is within reach of an AC outlet. Better for the batteries and no need to go through the trouble of removing them.

As long as there is a main battery switch, no need to disconnect. Turn it off.
Click to expand...
Do most of the newer Searay’s have multistage smart chargers? I assume I have one as it’s a 2008 350DA. I’ve elected to keep mine charged in this winter for the 1st time. Previous years I’d leave them on board and they would fully discharge which I think was seriously damaging the batteries.

Also, I wonder if during the winter if I should need to check water levels in them?
 
To clarify, I’m keeping it plugged into ac power with the charger switch turned on. If I do have a smart charger it should not burn them up or damage them. Am I correct?
Thx
 
You should verify your charger make and model and read up on its capabilities, but generally yes, it should be a smart charger from that era.

You should top off water in batteries now, then check once mid winter to see if they are drying.
 
You are correct. If you have no owners manual, get the name and model number off of the charger and google it. You will find the manual and learn about it.

Bennett
 
My opinion is based upon 40 years of experience in West Michigan where it gets quite cold in the winter. We have stored in both cold and heated buildings over the past 40 years, and have never removed batteries. We have never had any battery failures related to leaving them in the boat without a trickle charger. We simply put the boat away with the batteries fully charged and all of the switches turned off. Our boats have always started easily in the following spring regardless of a cold or heated winter storage site.
 
sbw1 said:
My opinion is based upon 40 years of experience in West Michigan where it gets quite cold in the winter. We have stored in both cold and heated buildings over the past 40 years, and have never removed batteries. We have never had any battery failures related to leaving them in the boat without a trickle charger. We simply put the boat away with the batteries fully charged and all of the switches turned off. Our boats have always started easily in the following spring regardless of a cold or heated winter storage site.
Click to expand...

Mine went flat to about 6V left in the late spring.

MM
 
Based on my experience a non 3 phase battery charger will boil water out of the battery. My owner's manual says to leave a 12 volt light on if you are going to leave you AC Converter on all the time. We have four 12 volt group 27 and ten 6 volt that are connected to one smart charger now. They are left on from October to May each year and are fine in May. I do add water in May but there is still lots of water in them.
 
Pilot said:
Do most of the newer Searay’s have multistage smart chargers? I assume I have one as it’s a 2008 350DA. I’ve elected to keep mine charged in this winter for the 1st time. Previous years I’d leave them on board and they would fully discharge which I think was seriously damaging the batteries.

Also, I wonder if during the winter if I should need to check water levels in them?
Click to expand...
Although smart chargers have been around for a number of years, I could not say what searay would have used from the factory. SO eyeing the brand and model is best going forward.

Making sure the main battery switch(s) is off, to insure there are no parasitic draws that could keep the charger out of float mode.

I would not expect a need to check/add water during the off season layup. Once fully charged, the charger will go into an idle state and no longer supply a charge until the battery level drops drops. So in reality, very little actual charging going on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,112
Messages
1,426,288
Members
61,026
Latest member
NeilS
Back
Top