Battery in Michigan winter ?
Just picked up our new 5th wheel. Was wondering what to do with the battery for the winter? Should I remove the battery from the coach and keep inside till spring? Thanks for your responce
Forum Discussion
There are a few reasonable options; take your pick.
1. If it's not in terrible shape, you can charge the battery fully and physically disconnect it and it will be okay in the trailer for the winter (assuming outside storage). Self-discharge is much lower in cold conditions than in hot/warm conditions.
2. If you have power available at your storage location, you can use the built-in converter to keep it charged by plugging the trailer in. Alternately, you could hook up a separate maintainer and use that instead of the converter; depending on the specific converter model and the maintainer, it may be gentler on the battery and less likely to lose too much electrolyte.
3. You can take the battery out and keep it hooked up at home. It does not need to be inside a heated area, and you probably don't want it in the living space of your house due to the acid fumes etc.
A fully charged lead acid battery will not freeze unless the temperature gets far, far below zero; basically, if you aren't in an actual arctic area, you don't need to be concerned with that. A discharged battery will freeze much more readily.
1. If it's not in terrible shape, you can charge the battery fully and physically disconnect it and it will be okay in the trailer for the winter (assuming outside storage). Self-discharge is much lower in cold conditions than in hot/warm conditions.
2. If you have power available at your storage location, you can use the built-in converter to keep it charged by plugging the trailer in. Alternately, you could hook up a separate maintainer and use that instead of the converter; depending on the specific converter model and the maintainer, it may be gentler on the battery and less likely to lose too much electrolyte.
3. You can take the battery out and keep it hooked up at home. It does not need to be inside a heated area, and you probably don't want it in the living space of your house due to the acid fumes etc.
A fully charged lead acid battery will not freeze unless the temperature gets far, far below zero; basically, if you aren't in an actual arctic area, you don't need to be concerned with that. A discharged battery will freeze much more readily.
