Winter solar battery charging when you can't add water?

[Buckshot_Bill]

We have a solar panel on the roof of our travel trailer that keeps our two 6 volt batteries charged when we're boondocking.
This winter we're leaving the trailer in an RV park in the mountains at 6900 ft. elevation, and, as this is 180 miles from where we live, I can't add dist. water when the batteries need it.
The batteries will be un-attended for 7 months and temps will go down to zero or below.

I've been told to just dis-connect the neg. connection and not worry about the batteries, or

should I leave them connected with the solar charger running as usual
or

should I take them with us and hook a trickle charger to them?

Sorry to be so long winded about all this, but I'm really confused about which way to do this.
Thanks for any suggestions, BB

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I would fill them with water and leave them on the solar charger. What charge controller do you have?

[time2roll]

I would leave them on solar. No water should be needed for at least six months.

[RoyB]

If your charger is a smart mode charger it probably will never heat the batteries up enough to boil fluids out. I lost one battery due to the fluids being boiled out and then changed over to smart mode charging. I still check my batteries every couple of weeks but never see them low on fluids any more.

I probably would just just remove the batteries in your case since you are not around to check on them for that long of a time frame...

A fully charged battery will not freeze but being disconnected for that long of time the charge would probably start dropping off on you unless you had some sort of solar trickle charge feeding them.

Batteries are too expensive to just abandon for that long of time without hands on maintenance of some sort.

Roy Ken

[2oldman]

Take them with you.

[Oasisbob]

I would take the batteries home and care for them. Mainly because your solar will probley be covered in snow often. Let's see what others say?