Battery winter storage
What is the current thinking on engine battery winter storage? We have a new battery and a battery tender under the hood of the Ford V10. Best to disconnect and store or keep he tender monitoring/cha...
Forum Discussion
If the batteries froze then they were not fully charged, or had parasitic loads on them.
I live in a climate that does get to -40 and I have personally rv'ed at -37 c (-34 f). My batteries never froze because they were kept charged.
A five year old battery may have reduced capacity, but if the specific gravity can be shown to be 12.75 then the battery will not freeze until it is -60 c (-77 f). Further, the colder the temperature the less self discharge happens, so storing at -20 c is much better than storing at -5 c.
Plugging in a car or other vehicle is about warming the oil. It does not warm the battery, unless a battery blanket has been added.
Very few homes are designed to withstand -60 c (-77 f). I repeat there would be other more important problems to address.
While I'm sure your nephew is honest, he is not being given correct information. All cars now have parasitic loads. In cold weather that becomes a big problem.
I live in a climate that does get to -40 and I have personally rv'ed at -37 c (-34 f). My batteries never froze because they were kept charged.
A five year old battery may have reduced capacity, but if the specific gravity can be shown to be 12.75 then the battery will not freeze until it is -60 c (-77 f). Further, the colder the temperature the less self discharge happens, so storing at -20 c is much better than storing at -5 c.
Plugging in a car or other vehicle is about warming the oil. It does not warm the battery, unless a battery blanket has been added.
Very few homes are designed to withstand -60 c (-77 f). I repeat there would be other more important problems to address.
While I'm sure your nephew is honest, he is not being given correct information. All cars now have parasitic loads. In cold weather that becomes a big problem.
