Battery During Winter

cdru wrote:
Our trailer sets across the road from our house. I just make sure the batteries are fully charged, disconnect them, and let them sit. Our pontoon boat has two batteries, one starting and one trolling, and I do the same with them. We live in northern Minnesota on a lake and get temps way below zero, no problems. Been doing it this way for many years. cdru

We use the same approach with the 2 batteries in our boat and the one in the tractor. Charge in the fall. Make sure no load on them (disconnect positive). Use them in the spring. That has worked fine for the last 30 years. It does get very cold here in Ontario.

Our trailer sets across the road from our house. I just make sure the batteries are fully charged, disconnect them, and let them sit. Our pontoon boat has two batteries, one starting and one trolling, and I do the same with them. We live in northern Minnesota on a lake and get temps way below zero, no problems. Been doing it this way for many years. cdru

Thanks everyone!!

Since you have no access to power at the storage site, you can either use a solar panel to keep the battery charged, or take the battery out and take it home. At home, put it on a trickle charger. A trickle charger is the preferred method.

turkey stalker wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
...

I did forget to add we are not keeping it at home. Would this work fine? http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

Yes, would do just fine. Don't need anything fancy. I have 2 similar trickle chargers I keep on my 2 John Deere riding mowers all winter in the garage. One is a John Deere 130 and the other is a John Deere 730. The 730 is water cooled with all hydraulics. So the battery is about as powerful as a car battery. Trickle chargers (your "tender") works just fine. When fully charged, they stop trickling automatically. Never a problem with either of mine in over 20 years. I think I bought both of them at Wall Mart.

DutchmenSport wrote:
You didn't say what kind of camper you have or if you are able to store it at home or not. If you are able to store at home, just keep the camper plugged in with a heavier construnction style extension cord, plugged into your house outlet (15 or 20 amp breaker). This is MORE than enough to keep the battery charged, as your on-board converter will charge it automatically. Campers are made to be plugged in while camping for weeks at a time, so if you check the water level a couple times to make sure it's not boiling out, there's no reason to remove the battery at all.

Now, if you're storing off site, then yes, bring the battery home and a trickle charger will work just fine.

I did forget to add we are not keeping it at home. Would this work fine? http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

My batteries sit all winter disconnected in their compartment. they are fully charged and I will check them about once a month, and if they need a charge, I will connect the batteries (a switch) and the rig's converter will apply a charge and I will again disconnect after about 24 hours. It gets to about zero temp here and never had a problem.

Quality Johnson wrote:
I'm no pro, but this has worked well for me. I just run an extension to the TT over the winter and let the onboard charger keep the battery up. I need my regular battery charger for the car, and figure why buy another one when there is already one on board.

YMMV.

Thanks for the reply...I should have added we are storing the TT away from home as our HOA doesnt think to much of TT in the driveway...so I have no access to power.

You didn't say what kind of camper you have or if you are able to store it at home or not. If you are able to store at home, just keep the camper plugged in with a heavier construnction style extension cord, plugged into your house outlet (15 or 20 amp breaker). This is MORE than enough to keep the battery charged, as your on-board converter will charge it automatically. Campers are made to be plugged in while camping for weeks at a time, so if you check the water level a couple times to make sure it's not boiling out, there's no reason to remove the battery at all.

Now, if you're storing off site, then yes, bring the battery home and a trickle charger will work just fine.

I'm no pro, but this has worked well for me. I just run an extension to the TT over the winter and let the onboard charger keep the battery up. I need my regular battery charger for the car, and figure why buy another one when there is already one on board.

YMMV.