Winterizing Batteries

If ypu drill a hole why not install a drain?

A bolt is easier and cheaper. Also pretty fail-proof.

dweller said:

A simple and effective drain in the bilge is to drill a 3/8" hole in the hull near the bottom of the bilge. This will drain the winter water. In the spring, simply insert a 3/8" bolt with a nut and washer, and a goop of life-caulk or similar.

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A little crude but effective I guess.

Well, I don't know what drilling a hole in the bottom of your boat has to do with winterizing batteries, but to each his own. Me I try to keep the water on the outside and more holes in the hull, below the waterline certainly provides another avenue for water intrusion.

I think the smarter approach is to find out where the intrusion is coming from and stopping it, then buy a $50 wet/dry vac and vacuum the water in the bilge out. The vac can be used for other services as well.

IF you don't like those 2 ideas, occasional visits to your boat will allow you to connect power and run your bilge pump. DO NOT stay connected to any power while in storage.

Now, to winterizing batteries. Wet cells need to have the appropriate amount of water in the cells, be fully charged and checked at least 1 time during the layup period. IF they are 12V batteries, I wouldn't suggest letting them fall lower than 10.5V or so as checked with a voltmeter.

IF they get that low then a charge would be recommended.

Winter cold can have an impact on the charge, but since they aren't being used, all power from them shut off, which I do by turning off my power panel with the 3 position switch and then also shutting off our inverter, then they will last longer. I do NOT disconnect any power connections in our banks.

IF during your inspection you find that the batteries need topping off, charging, I have used a regular car battery charger. Most storage locations will not allow a constant connection to a power source while in storage, but will allow you to connect to power to run a charger to bring your batteries back.

AGM batteries are a different animal. They share the characteristics of a wet cell but there is no water maintenance that is needed or can be performed.

AGM batteries seem to hold their charge much better and that may be due to the number of plates they have internally.

In a side by side experiment, last winter, we were on the hard in Cayuga, 1 of the Finger Lakes, in upstate NY. I have 6-L16 AGM 6V batteries in a house bank and had 2-4D 12V engine, wet cell batteries. Thru out the winter I made 4 trips to our boat. Each visit required me to charge the wet cell batteries. The AGM batteries held their charge all winter with very little degradation. NO connection were removed during this storage.

This winter we are on the hard at Georgian Bay, in Canada. The wet cell engine batteries have been replaced with 2-4D 12V AGM batteries. She was put on the hard the 7th of September and we finished our winterization and left her with batteries fully charged on the 21st. I plan a trip to check the batteries during the Toronto Boat Show, probably around the 22nd of January.

Got my fingers crossed and knocking on wood & my head.

dweller said:

A simple and effective drain in the bilge is to drill a 3/8" hole in the hull near the bottom of the bilge. This will drain the winter water. In the spring, simply insert a 3/8" bolt with a nut and washer, and a goop of life-caulk or similar.

Click to expand...

If you need to save the $8 difference between a nut/bolt/washer/sealant and a proper garboard drain fitting .... you can't afford a boat.

With your method you need two people. Is that easier ?

If you put in a garboard drain (looks and sounds like a great idea) the trick will be to remember to reinstall the plug before launching (assuming that you remember where you stored the plug over the winter. ) Sounds pretty obvious but I would be embarrassed to admit how many amphibious vehicles we sunk in the Army because someone removed the garboard drain and then the next operator did not re- install it.

If you are lucky enough to have access to 110V, use a ($10) trickle charger from Harbor Freight. You probably need one for each battery bank. Our yard would not permit untended 110V connections during Winter storage, so I used to top-up charge 5x8D,2x4D and a Group 31 about once a month. Meant hanging around in the cold watching but considering the cost of replacement, probably time well spent.

dweller said:

A bolt is easier and cheaper. Also pretty fail-proof.

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Cheaper I'll agree.
A cork wpuld likely save even more.

If you ever want to sell and buyer has it surveyed what do you think a surveyor would have to say about that... probably not ABYC approved?!?!
It may "sink" a sale just because buyer might (should) think if they took that short cut to save a few bucks what other corners have the seller cut???

Anther way to save is to make a trawler out of this:



The drain hole and cork plug are already there!



L

Larry M said:

Dave:

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I hope that is bronze and is grounded too.

I had a garboard just like the above pix. Worked great. But one year I Noticed all the flat head ss screws lost their heads due to corrosion. Good thing the body was caulked. Hey, maybe a sil bronze 1/2” carriage bolt isn’t such a bad idea.

BuoyOBuoy said:

Magnets.
Excellent suggestion.
Ideas like this is why I love this Forum.
I'm not ever going to be shy about asking question even if the answer should be obvious.
Thanks for all the brilliant replies.

Click to expand...

Are you sure your boat doesn't already have one? my last boat was a Mainship -1 1980 vintage and it was on the right side almost under the transmission, used to open it every winter...

oh boy...


Typically up here in the tundra, there is no power in the yard during the winter, and no staff will be hooking anything up. The boat is truly in winter STORAGE...


Those dashboard "solar chargers" from the automotive store are JUNK. As noted in an earlier post, a proper 50 watt solar panel and name brand charge controller is the right way to go, if you are going to charge.


Removing the batteries and having a friend host them in their garage and sticking a charger on 'em a couple times thru the winter would be lovely...


Fully charged, disconnect and leave them in the boat has value. Their condition in the spring will give you an idea how close you are to replacing them. Works for the boat and for the lawn tractor too...


I mentioned that the dashboard chargers are JUNK?

Hello Buoyobuoy,
I have a 1980 Mainship and it has a garboard drain in it. I am not sure if it is factory installed or not. I mention this because it is not obvious unless you really look for it.

I too have one, but it's inaccessible from the inside because it's under the motor pan. Have a close look at the bottom of the keel amidships. You may have one.

A garboard drain is removable at every haul out with no hassle. A bolt nut washer assembly would be a pita because it would require 2 people to disassemble & reassemble each time plus need to be recaulked each time. In addition a garboard drain has a larger diameter drain hole. A bolt hole would be much smaller & risk clogging with random bilge debris.

There maybe a parallel here.
I am gone from my car 10 months of the year.
I disconnect battery.
Come back after 10 months reconnect the battery and start the engine. Of course, without battery power, the computer is wiped slick..... I have to drive the car for a few days before I get the emission check performed.
My boat, electrically nothing changes..... hooked to shore power, battery charger. on. I am gone for 2 months...
I do open a few unnecessary breaker (things such as the stove, hot water heater, electronics, FW pump and Vacu-flush head etc) at the panel and shut off all the inverters. Shut off the FW.
Beyond that, nothing changes. Yes, I have a separate 40 amp battery charger....
The main 1500 amp inverter and 2 smaller inverters, I shut off. The 2 solar panels should keep the batteries charged if one of the snot nosed kids unplug my shore power again.
I do not shut off the 12vt fridge. Lock the doors, check the dock lines and walk away. I do leave one 120vt lamp on so the neighbors can tell if the shore power has been disconnected or shut off.
I would encourage you to write a list of things you shut off or disconnect.

boomerang said:

A garboard drain is removable at every haul out with no hassle. A bolt nut washer assembly would be a pita because it would require 2 people to disassemble & reassemble each time plus need to be recaulked each time. In addition a garboard drain has a larger diameter drain hole. A bolt hole would be much smaller & risk clogging with random bilge debris.

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Why not install an "extra" through hull valve?

OldDan1943 said:

Why not install an "extra" through hull valve?

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Because $20 vs. $150 and since the nipple would stand at least 4" proud, it would not drain the bilge all the way.