Golf cart batteries vs storage vs charging??

evy wrote:
Hi everybody!

Quick question for you today.

I'm building a campervan conversion out of a Ford E250 high top van.

I'm new to all of this and it's my second year of building this thing (part time)

I live in canada but I order a lot of equipment online in the USA and I have it delivered near the border then I go down to get it.
I did that a couple of times now and I saved a lot of money (even if the exchange rate is not good for us)

Most of the equipment is just sitting there in my garage with my campervan waiting for installation.

Among the equipment, I have two 6 volt GC2 golf cart acid batteries that I bought at Sam's club in July (summer 2016)
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/duracell-golf-car-battery-group-size-gc2/prod3590228.ip

I wanted to know if it's ok to leave them there until I hook them up? or do I need to put a trickle charger/smart charger on them?

My garage is not heated but it is connected to the rest of the house so it's around 50deg F most of the time, the coldest it will get is around 40deg F.

Thanks for any advice!

I have not had good luck with hydrometers, I have the one you posted and always got a reading of good or 1300. When I tested distilled water I still got the same reading. I also have the bulb type which I thought would be more accurate but was not. Some have told me I needed to buy a Freas to get an accurate reading, I just use a volt meter now. As to your second question If you fully charge your batteries you can leave them for several months until you get your system together. I have the same batteries and fully charge mine for the winter, disconnect then recharge in spring. I dry camp 95% of the time but never let them get below 50% SOC before recharging them. most cycles are much shallower and the batteries are 9 years old.