whats a good way to store a battery and not have it die on you in the winter months...?

Question

battery storage off-season...

Answer 1

Preferrably in a somewhat warm area, place it on wood, not on cement, cement will drain your battery, get a low amp slow charger and charge it once a month, make sure the fluid is up to level, be very careful around it the fumes and acid are dangerous! I recommend using gloves and wearing eye protection when dealing with it.

Answer 2

We store batteries for customers over the winter months.
The best way to look after a battery is to use it. We normally store about 30 batteries and the way we look after them is as follows.
All the batteries start fully charged and are placed on wooden shelves. We connect a headlamp bulb (55 watt) across battery 1 and leave it there for 24 hours. This bulb is then taken off and put across battery 2. Battery 1 is then trickle charged.
24 Hours later battery 3 is discharged with the headlamp bulb and battery 2 is charged.
This carries on throughout the winter months, when reaching the last battery we return and start at the beginning.
We very rarely loose any batteries using this method.
If you only have one or two batteries I would suggest a discharge and charge about once a month

Answer 3

A new battery in storage will lose about 1% of its' remaining charge per day. Use a trickle charger or place the battery on a charger every few weeks to keep the charge near full. A deep cycle battery can tollerate a deep discharge however a starting battery cannot recover well from a discharge below about 60%. It is in your best interest to keep your starting batteries near a full charge.

Answer 4

If you are going to have a battery in storage for months at a time in a car, disconnect it from the car, it will reduce the discharge. Or, periodically charge the battery, maybe once every 2 to 4 weeks. If you have it in storage disconnected from the car, a charge every month or two will help keep the self discharge from draining the battery. You may also look for regulated trickle chargers that are designed for this type of application

Answer 5

I agree with Wayne, keep the battery placed on a Metal or wooden rack because concrete will drain the battery. As far as keeping on a trickle charger, I can see maybe every 1-2months putting it on to help keep a full charge, It may not be best to leave it on the whole time its not in use though.

Answer 6

Put it in the basement, charge it every once in a while (remember to keep the vent caps off when charging, as explosive Hydrogen gas is produced in the cell while it is charging), you can keep it on cement, it won't make the battery dead, thats just an urban legend, ask any battery manufacturer, they will tell you the same thing.

Answer 7

Make sure the battery is full of distilled water then fully charge it. Once a month charge it with a slow charge to keep it from freezing. It is when a battery is discharged that it will freeze inside.

Answer 8

you can do a periodic ''turn on'' just turn on the mower a bit every once in awhile during this time (at the same rate as though you were on a regular mowing schedule) and try to maintain the battery in a place where it won't be in freezing temperature.

Answer 9

store someplace where temp does not have huge changes and get a battery charger with trickle charge or 2 amp charge.

Answer 10

I fully charge all 3 of my batteries and pull them out and place them in my basement.

If you live in a cold climate area for winter dont leave them in a garage or whatever. It only takes a couple of minutes to pull them and place them inside.

I dont place them on cement, I dont want to leave acid markes, however, cement will not kill a battery. Old wives tell.