Battery Tender/Charger

[Rono007]

Well ... My marina who winterized my boat had said they would pull the batteries and store them for me over the winter. As we start to thaw and melt here I was inside my boat the other day, looked in the engine compartment, and guess what was in there? :huh:

Good guess! :smt038

I have removed the 2 batteries and think I should probably get them on a tender/charger. It wouldn't hurt to own one, right? :thumbsup:

So my question would be, can I buy one and swap the batteries out on the charger/tender weekly? Are they cheap enough to where I should just get two of them? Final question ... is there a certain type of tender/charger that I should be looking for?

I only ask because my Harley has a certain type of tender that it sits on in the Winter. One of the batteries is brand new, and at $155 each, I'd rather ask the obvious and be certain rather than replace 2 batteries.

Thanks!

 

[Rono007]

Disregard. I found an old thread and posted prematurely. Sorry ... they do not make a pill for this.

I will go down to my local auto parts store and get a battery charger and throw a charge on them both and then again before splash and I should be good to go.

Thanks again.

 

[Henry Boyd]

Ron,

Before you spend any money you should check the batteries for ice (assuming wet cells). If the batteries show ice, they have frozen and they will never again hold a charge.

If they do not show signs of ice, they still might have frozen, so pull one out and take it to get charged and then load tested. That is the only way you will know they are any good.

If the batteries are shot then your money will be better spent later in the spring on new batteries. On the other hand, if the batteries are good at this point you can buy the charger if you want, although you may not need it.

If the batteries were fully charged going into the winter, and disconnected, then they are fine and you don't need to do anything. I just charge mine and pull the negative cables and leave them until spring on the boat.

Henry

 

[Rono007]

Thanks Henry. One of my concerns is that the batteries had died just before we pulled her out of the water. The marina used a jump pack to start her and get her out and I'm assuming it ran long enough to charge them. I have to get my oil changed this week, so I'll load the batteries and take them to Midas and have them load test them to see if they are worthy.

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated.