Marine Batteries Options

[philzero44]

I was wondering what to do with my battery now the boat is out of action for a while.I'ts an Apollo deep cycle marine battery and do I keep it charged or flatten it for storage.Thanks Phil.

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Nope dont flatten it just pull it out of the boat.

Leave the charge in it but whatever you do Dont let it sit on the concrete floor put in on timber else just leave it in the boat & pull the - & + terminals of the batteries poles

[poly]

Dont let it sit on the concrete floor

PLEASE EXPLAIN, why would it make a difference were u sit the battery or what you sit it on.

[SUMOFISHIN]

Poly,
The concrete floor is cold constantly and the cold floor will make the battery very cold at the bottom, the battery charge reduces as the ambient temperature is reduced, example a battery say at 30 degrees holds full charge and the same battery at 15 degrees will only produce say 50% of it's capacity, therefore reducing the temperature constantly will reduce the battery capacity constantly until the battery is flat and the plates buckle due to the bottom temperature being colder than the upper temperature, once the battery is flat, the battery will sulphate and the plates will shed spongey lead, which will further reduce the battery life and short out the plates from the bottom further buckling the plates until the battery is useless. this can all happen in a period of 3 months.

[poly]

Poly,
The concrete floor is cold constantly and the cold floor will make the battery very cold at the bottom, the battery charge reduces as the ambient temperature is reduced, example a battery say at 30 degrees holds full charge and the same battery at 15 degrees will only produce say 50% of it's capacity, therefore reducing the temperature constantly will reduce the battery capacity constantly until the battery is flat and the plates buckle due to the bottom temperature being colder than the upper temperature, once the battery is flat, the battery will sulphate and the plates will shed spongey lead, which will further reduce the battery life and short out the plates from the bottom further buckling the plates until the battery is useless. this can all happen in a period of 3 months.

Thanks Somo that explains it nicely

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Yep wot SUMO said couldn't have said it better myself

Now you know why you allways see batteries stored on racks when on their display racks in stores or if you walk into auto elec shop you'll see a rubber mat on the concrete with batteries sitting on the mat.

[salty fil]

Also why travelling people, say, like in the army keep their batteries on the heater.

[philzero44]

Well Jumpus thats somethink I did'nt know

[Jumpus GooDarus]

Another reason you never discharge a battery is very simple & this applies to any batty not just car or marine batteries.

Most battery chargers dont have the capacity to start charging a battery if it's completely dead you'll have it on the charger for days & it will still be dead.

You can use a 2nd fully charged battery to give the dead battery the boost it need to get it to start accepting charge.

[Phil]

Ive got one of those $60 solar chargers standing in the window of the shed. I cut of the cig. plug and put on alligator clips.Just hook it up when I put the boat away and the battery stays charged all the time.

[storms72]

Not certain if this applies to car/marine batteries but with ni-cad/NIMH batteries you should store them fully charged to keep them working properly and to prevent shortening their life-most batteries develop memory and if they aren't fully charged/discharged they dont deliver what they should!

I would think its best to discharge then fully charge your marine battery before storing it!

[philzero44]

#3 08-02-2008, 08:04 AM
Landlubber


Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007
Rep: 339 Posts: 940
Location: Brisbane

Apollo deep cycle marine batteries are not true deep cycle batteries at all, so be careful. It must be fully charged, this may take a while to do, check it with a hydrometer. Do not let it sit for 3 months though, , it may be a bit too long really, say every month or two, depending .

What do you believe.Phil

This post has been edited by philzero44: Sep 9 2008, 11:53 PM