Automotive

Winter Storage - Maintain Battery?

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  • Nov 3rd, 2011 1:52 pm
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Jul 30, 2005
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Winter Storage - Maintain Battery?

This year I want to put something on my battery while the car is in storage (I didn't last year :facepalm :)

I saw that there was two "chargers" in CT's flyer this week.

Motomaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger, 2A

and


Motomaster Battery Charger with 100A Engine Start


Is the small one good enough just to leave on a battery over the winter to maintain it? I usually do start the vehicle every coouple of weeks. I saw there was a bunch of other chargers on the website as well, as I won't be needing it till I'd say mid november, should I wait until another one goes on sale?

Thanks for the help
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Nov 21, 2007
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adblink182 wrote: This year I want to put something on my battery while the car is in storage (I didn't last year :facepalm :)

I saw that there was two "chargers" in CT's flyer this week.

Motomaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger, 2A

and


Motomaster Battery Charger with 100A Engine Start


Is the small one good enough just to leave on a battery over the winter to maintain it? I usually do start the vehicle every coouple of weeks. I saw there was a bunch of other chargers on the website as well, as I won't be needing it till I'd say mid november, should I wait until another one goes on sale?

Thanks for the help

It sounds like you are leaving the battery connected for the winter. I personally don't do this. I pull it out and move it to my insulated garage and keep it off the concrete floor and I've never had to charge it. It's worked for the last 4 years of storing over winter. Any battery tender should do the trick if you are leaving it in the car though. I'd still disconnect it if you are leaving it in.

Also, I wouldn't start the car every few weeks. Chances are you are doing more harm than good. Even if you let it run for a decent amount of time you will only bring up the temperature of the coolant. The oil and exhaust will only warm up enough to burn off any moisture if it's under load from driving. You'll likely end up introducing more moisture than you are burning off.
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Mar 5, 2011
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Go to a motorcycle shop and buy a Battery Tender . They are a smart charger that monitors and charges automatically . Around $ 40.00 .
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Jan 7, 2011
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The $20 one should work fine for you based on the reviews on there.
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Oct 19, 2003
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I have both a Battery Tender Jr which I used to use with my motorcycle, and the CTek charger which I have wired onto my car battery. Both work well, but for car batteries I'd recommend the Ctek charger as it has twice the amperage but still does everything completely foolproof.

Both come with pigtails to hard wire onto the battery so you can do easy connect/disconnect of charger without messing with alligator clips that can slip off or arc.
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Jun 7, 2001
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Brandon wrote: I have this one for my boat. It works fine, and I also got it for $20.

I have this one too. I had paid $30. Good unit.

I plug this in when I don't drive a vehicle very often via the cigarette lighter socket. It's not water proof. If I have to park another vehicle over the winter (have done the past two years), I would use it without any reservations. I now know that parking a vehicle over the winter shortens the life of a battery...needed a new battery after a two year old battery couldn't maintain it's charge (didn't use the smart trickle charger).

Dave
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Jul 22, 2005
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If you're going to charge the battery over the winter, I would suggest using a timer. Maybe something like 1 hour each day or something like that. Don't let it charge all day, everyday...
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CRXGSR wrote: If you're going to charge the battery over the winter, I would suggest using a timer. Maybe something like 1 hour each day or something like that. Don't let it charge all day, everyday...

If you have a really cheap crappy charger yes. Otherwise, things like Battery Tender and CTek chargers are meant to be left on permanently.
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Oct 26, 2008
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tjayl wrote: .... and keep it off the concrete floor

This is a caution that has no basis today - was true many decades ago. For those interested in the history of this myth:

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechT ... ncrete.htm

The $90 CTEK 3.3amp charger gets glowing user reviews on the CT website.

A plug it in and forget about it approach might be best for OP,
and I echo the advice about not starting the car up periodically while stored. Does more harm than good.
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I just make sure to unplug the battery from the car and store it in the garage (unless the car is being stored in the garage, then I just leave it in the car disconnected). This has always worked fine for me, and my summer car is running on a 8 year old battery.

This strategy obviously doesn't work if you need the battery to remain connected to the car for some reason.
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Thanks for the advice. The car is being stored in a garage. Why should you disconnect the battery?

I never start the car when it is below 0*C, and last year I was able to take the car out for a short spin when the roads were nice and dry.
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adblink182 wrote: Thanks for the advice. The car is being stored in a garage. Why should you disconnect the battery?

I never start the car when it is below 0*C, and last year I was able to take the car out for a short spin when the roads were nice and dry.

I disconnect the battery because there is always a draw on the battery, even when parked. Because of this, over the course of 7 months (an Alberta winter, Ontario winter might not be as long) the battery could be drained completely. Obviously you can't start the car without the battery connected, but that being said, it's going to be worse for your car to start it/drive it once a month than to let it sit for 7 months. As well, if your car isn't financed (or anything enforcing insurance coverage) you can remove/suspend certain pieces of insurance too.
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May 28, 2007
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1bagger wrote: Go to a motorcycle shop and buy a Battery Tender . They are a smart charger that monitors and charges automatically . Around $ 40.00 .


+1

Keeps my boat batteries fresh over the winter. I can hook up 2 12v batteries at the same time.
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Aug 21, 2009
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adblink182 wrote: Thanks for the advice. The car is being stored in a garage. Why should you disconnect the battery?

I never start the car when it is below 0*C, and last year I was able to take the car out for a short spin when the roads were nice and dry.

The car will draw some power from the battery and the cold will kill it as well. Ideally you want to store the battery at room temp

I just put all my batteries in the basement and hook them up to a 2A charger a few times (it's a preventative thing really)

The more expensive charger that has 2A/12A/100A allows you to jump start and charge a battery faster. Basically 2A is for maint, 12A is to charge in a day and 100A is to get the car started if the battery died (then the car will recharge the battery itself if you drive long enough) If you want those options you pay a bit more, otherwise the 2A will ensure your battery is good in the spring. I personally wouldn't leave it charged all winter though.
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Mar 6, 2003
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In the past, I just disconnected the battery while my car was parked in my unheated garage the whole winter. In the spring, I would charge it with a 2A charger. (leaving the battery connected will allow it to discharge. Couple that with the cold and it's not a good practice)

Now I use the CTek charger and leave the battery connected.
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Nov 21, 2007
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macnut wrote: This is a caution that has no basis today - was true many decades ago. For those interested in the history of this myth:

http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechT ... ncrete.htm

Thanks for the post! That's quite interesting. Storing a battery off the concrete is just something I've always done because that's what I was told to do. I likely won't test it though, since I've got lots of storage space off the garage floor anyway, but it's good to know.
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Nov 21, 2007
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adblink182 wrote: I never start the car when it is below 0*C, and last year I was able to take the car out for a short spin when the roads were nice and dry.
As tempting as it is to take my summer car out on nice days in the winter, once salt is down I never do it. Salt sticks around for a long time and takes several days of rain to have all of it washed off the streets. It's just asking for rust, since it's guaranteed to be going back into storage with salt on it.
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warpdrive wrote: In the past, I just disconnected the battery while my car was parked in my unheated garage the whole winter. In the spring, I would charge it with a 2A charger. (leaving the battery connected will allow it to discharge. Couple that with the cold and it's not a good practice)

Now I use the CTek charger and leave the battery connected.

this the one you use? Its on sale this week at Canadian Tire....how is the price?

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4 ... ?locale=en

being able to leave the battery in the car would be a substantially easier option.

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