Just purchased a 2004 BT Cruiser. The previous owner told me that when he stored the motor home for the winter, he never took out the batteries.I have always removed the batteries and stored them in a warmer place somewhere in the garage or in the basement. After all this is Canada and we had our first snow fall last night.Do any of you, who live in colder areas, leave your batteries in the vehicle when you put it in storage for the winter?

If its parked where you can plug it in, I see no reason to pull the batteries. If you cannot plug it in, then pull the batteries and put them on a trickle charger

We leave our heavy T-105's in our rig disconnected all winter. But the rig is in our driveway so I can easily charge them up if I need to. I will check the voltage about once a month.

Lots of people do. I certainly do (in Vermont). I do have electricity at my storage location next to my garage, so the house battery is maintained by the PD converter.If the battery is fully charged, it won't freeze until the temperature drops down to truly arctic conditions (somewhere around 90 degrees below zero IIRC). In cold conditions, the battery self-discharge is also greatly slowed. Because of these, it's also reasonable to charge the batteries (fully), and then disconnect them and leave them for the winter. In the springtime, they'd probably have self-discharged to maybe 75% or 80% charged, though it does of course depend on the conditions and the battery.If they're in a warmer place, it's rather more important to use a battery tender or a periodic bit of charging to keep them from self-discharging too far.

I keep mine in the coach.. turn off the battery disconnect switch , unplug the power from it.. and hook it up to a battery tender . .

Storing Batteries in Winter | Good Sam Community

donn0128
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2016
If its parked where you can plug it in, I see no reason to pull the batteries. If you cannot plug it in, then pull the batteries and put them on a trickle charger
2oldman
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2016
Winterize batteries Oct2009
korbe
Explorer
Oct 28, 2016
We leave our heavy T-105's in our rig disconnected all winter. But the rig is in our driveway so I can easily charge them up if I need to. I will check the voltage about once a month.
DrewE
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2016
Lots of people do. I certainly do (in Vermont). I do have electricity at my storage location next to my garage, so the house battery is maintained by the PD converter.

If the battery is fully charged, it won't freeze until the temperature drops down to truly arctic conditions (somewhere around 90 degrees below zero IIRC). In cold conditions, the battery self-discharge is also greatly slowed. Because of these, it's also reasonable to charge the batteries (fully), and then disconnect them and leave them for the winter. In the springtime, they'd probably have self-discharged to maybe 75% or 80% charged, though it does of course depend on the conditions and the battery.

If they're in a warmer place, it's rather more important to use a battery tender or a periodic bit of charging to keep them from self-discharging too far.
ford_truck_guy
Nomad
Oct 28, 2016
I keep mine in the coach.. turn off the battery disconnect switch , unplug the power from it.. and hook it up to a battery tender . .
Trackrig
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2016
Previous discussions:

Clicky

Clicky

Bill
RoyB
Explorer II
Oct 28, 2016
I leave mine connected all the time but I do have a complete disconnect BLUE SEA switch (BAT1-BOTH-BAT2-ALL OFF)

I check my batteries ever so often and they very seldom gets below 12.4-5 VDC over the winter months here in Northern Neck Virginia...

Too many parasitic low drains in my trailer setup to leave the batteries connected...

I too have a small 2amp trickle charge setup as well. Here lately I have been using a small solar panel connected. It does help keep the batteries up.

My 2008 Trailer setup has the smart mode charging system in it (Progressive PD-9260C ) for my upgraded 12V battery bank. Your 2004 Model trailer most likely still has the single mode charger in it unless someone has previously upgraded it. That would be a good thing for you to upgrade and this will almost look after your batteries for you. A single voltage charger that only puts out 13.6VDC is known to boil out your battery fluids over time. If you still have the 13.6VDC single mode charger be sure to keep a close eye on your battery fluids when being left on-charge...

Roy Ken
Photomike
Explorer III
Oct 28, 2016
I had two group 31's in the truck camper and never took them out. With the class C I am building an additional battery box and putting in two group 31's and they will stay in.

With the TCer I left it plugged in all year long, the motor home has a small solar charger that tops up. If you do not have solar or a plug in charge the batteries up then disconnect and they will be fine.
Sam_Spade
Explorer
Oct 28, 2016
donn0128 wrote:
then pull the batteries and put them on a trickle charger

Correction: Use a small automatic battery maintainer charger. A cheap trickle charger will NOT do.

Fact: A fully charged battery will not freeze down to about -65 F.
Being cold above the freezing point is actually good for them (if they are warmed up before use again).

So.....if you can charge them fully and the temp never gets below -40 F or so AND you disconnect one side, they should be good for 3-4 months with no problem. If not, they were about to go anyway.
Jayco-noslide
Explorer
Oct 28, 2016
Since we usually leave cold west, central Illinois for the south sometime in Jan. I never remove the 2 coach batteries but I plug the unit every couple of weeks to keep them charged. No problems in many years.