Charging battery in very cold garage OK?

[rce]

I have a new TT battery & I believe suitable multistage battery charger/maintainer. I'd like to store & charge the battery over winter in my unheated garage. Temperatures could reach -30 C or -22 F. Does this seem OK for both the battery & the charger? No specs with charger re temperature range to work. We do use the garage for our car. Any experiences from cold weather members?

Thank you.

[joelek]

If you have bad luck and kill one, they are 60-90 bucks to replace and they only last a few years anyway. I killed deep cycle batteries in my Walleye boat doing that. I bring all batteries in the house now. I'm in Minnesota by the way. If it only takes only a few minutes to remove battery from a trailer do it. Especially if you need to remove and clean the battery terminals anyway. Never killed a battery charger however.

The warming cycle from car/truck under hood temps thaws out the battery keeping your automotive battery alive. Allowing a fully charged battery to stay for months in bitter cold is what I'm thinking does em in.

[rce]

Originally Posted by joelek

If you have bad luck and kill one, they are 60-90 bucks to replace and they only last a few years anyway. I killed deep cycle batteries in my Walleye boat doing that. I bring all batteries in the house now. I'm in Minnesota by the way. If it only takes only a few minutes to remove battery from a trailer do it. Especially if you need to remove and clean the battery terminals anyway. Never killed a battery charger however.

The warming cycle from car/truck under hood temps thaws out the battery keeping your automotive battery alive. Allowing a fully charged battery to stay for months in bitter cold is what I'm thinking does em in.

Appreciate your reply! I was hoping it was feasible to use the garage as not sure where to keep the battery in our junk filled basement

Anyway I'll rethink that.

Anyone ever tried this in cold weather climates?

[F and E Damp]

Maybe having the battery on a low-current trickle charger would keep it warm enough. I'm sure glad we don't have that problem. Even in Jan/Feb, our overnights don't get much below 25F and it's very rare that winter daytime highs stay below freezing.

[joelek]

Google electric blanket for car battery. The Ford F150 trucks used to come with them in the Northland Edition packages. Warming up your battery adds ALOT of cranking power to help your truck start in winter. A simple warming pad/blanket would be a good idea for your winter RV battery charging ideas.

[rce]

Originally Posted by joelek

Google electric blanket for car battery. The Ford F150 trucks used to come with them in the Northland Edition packages. Warming up your battery adds ALOT of cranking power to help your truck start in winter. A simple warming pad/blanket would be a good idea for your winter RV battery charging ideas.

What a great idea. Any chance between the charger and the blanket that the battery could get too hot?

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by rce

I have a new TT battery & I believe suitable multistage battery charger/maintainer. I'd like to store & charge the battery over winter in my unheated garage. Temperatures could reach -30 C or -22 F. Does this seem OK for both the battery & the charger? No specs with charger re temperature range to work. We do use the garage for our car. Any experiences from cold weather members?

Thank you.

Not a "cold forum member" but handy with WWW. Batteries when charged freeze at -77F. If 75% charged freeze at -37. Recommend do not use $20 trickle charger, will fry battery over long term. Use voltmeter or hydrometer method of checking. Charge when falls to 80% back to full. Full time charging as bad as no charging. Healthy cold battery will last up to a month before dropping much. Check out " car and Deep cyle batteries FAQ."

[baldy]

Mine sits in my garage all winter and I give it a charge once a month. No issues yet. Keep it charged and it will be fine.

[acadianbob]

I've lived in Minnesota all my life and have never had cold kill a battery. What WILL kill your battery is low/no charge or over-charge. Low/No charge will kill your battery; and this where cold can be a problem as the battery can then freeze. Conversely, over-charge can happen unless you have a smart charger. IMO, a typical 3-stage RV converter/charger is not a smart charger. It does reduce to a trickle charge. But that will over-charge your battery ultimately; or at least "boil" water out of the battery.

So, bottom line, you can leave your battery in the garage. I would put a Battery Minder or Battery Tender on it. They are smart chargers that will keep your battery in tiptop condition and also will use anti-sulfation technology to treat your battery. I got 10 years out of my motorcycle battery using this type of product. I also use one on my Trojan deep cycle RV battery. It sits in my barn, in the cold, all winter. It's always ready to go in the spring and will last for years.

[rce]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

I've lived in Minnesota all my life and have never had cold kill a battery. What WILL kill your battery is low/no charge or over-charge. Low/No charge will kill your battery; and this where cold can be a problem as the battery can then freeze. Conversely, over-charge can happen unless you have a smart charger. IMO, a typical 3-stage RV converter/charger is not a smart charger. It does reduce to a trickle charge. But that will over-charge your battery ultimately; or at least "boil" water out of the battery.

So, bottom line, you can leave your battery in the garage. I would put a Battery Minder or Battery Tender on it. They are smart chargers that will keep your battery in tiptop condition and also will use anti-sulfation technology to treat your battery. I got 10 years out of my motorcycle battery using this type of product. I also use one on my Trojan deep cycle RV battery. It sits in my barn, in the cold, all winter. It's always ready to go in the spring and will last for years.

My "intelligent" charger has "float" charging in stage 3 and antisulfation so it should be OK???

[rce]

Originally Posted by VinceU

Not a "cold forum member" but handy with WWW. Batteries when charged freeze at -77F. If 75% charged freeze at -37. Recommend do not use $20 trickle charger, will fry battery over long term. Use voltmeter or hydrometer method of checking. Charge when falls to 80% back to full. Full time charging as bad as no charging. Healthy cold battery will last up to a month before dropping much. Check out " car and Deep cyle batteries FAQ."

"

Hadn't realized there was a car and Deep cyle batteries FAQ. Shall check it out!

[2Susan]

It gets minus 40 and worse here for a week or more at a time. We use a battery minder on the vehicles not used regularly. I don't have heating pads (see previous posts for a picture) but I do have an oil heater on the engine.

[joelek]

Ditto on Acadianbob - use a smart charger. Sounds like your intelligent charger is ok. At freezing temps, you are not going to overheat your battery. Those wrap blankets just warm things up, they don't get hot. Smart charger choices and technical info at Technical Info - Batterytender.com