Battery care for the winter - 2000 396 aft cabin

[tgebler]

My boat will be in the water this winter in Pittsburgh. It has twin V8 Mercruiser engines. There will be power to the boat.

I am looking for advice about the batteries. Do I remove them, leave them in the boat with the battery chargers on, leave them in but disconnected or some other option?

Thanks for your input.

[km1125]

If it's in the water I'd think you'd always want the bilge pumps available and powered up.

I would leave the batteries connected and on the charger, provided the charger is a decent "marine grade" one.

Just curious... will you be visiting the boat over the winter? Are you very far from it? Do the need to bubble the water or is there enough flow to keep it from freezing?

[tgebler]

I live three blocks from the dock and I plan to visit on a regular basis. We dock at the Oakmont Yacht Club where I serve on the Board, so yeah, I am around.

[bud37]

Source of the post I live three blocks from the dock and I plan to visit on a regular basis. We dock at the Oakmont Yacht Club where I serve on the Board, so yeah, I am around.

What are the experienced club members doing that have stayed in at your club before. As mentioned you really need a good charger that goes to float so no overcharge. Properly fully charged batteries can handle cold well. Let's face we drive around with them all winter.

I have taken batteries home and left them in.....no difference except leaving them is easier on the old body.....but never left a boat in for the winter.

One thing I will add, clean the battery terminals and the battery tops.....dirty battery tops will discharge.

[buster53]

If it was me and I lived 3 blocks away, I wouldn’t even leave them on the charger. Every tine you visit, turn on the charger while you are there.
I’ve had larger boats for almost 30 years and I leave them in the water every other winter and on the hard on the off winter. I’ve never left my battery charger on and I’m 2 hours away. I try to visit the boat 2-3 times during the winter and I turn on my charger for the hour or so I am there. Never had a battery issue.