Winter Battery Storage Questions

tjcin

I just bought a 2011 Precedent with 1 1/2 year old batteries. It will be stored at a vacation home that has potentially harsh winters. Since the house will be, for the most part, unoccupied this winter, I don't feel comfortable leaving it plugged in. What should I do with the batteries? Take them out and bring them home? If so, how can I maintain their good health? I am thinking about an 8v battery charger and rotating the batteries all winter. Any opinions? And, no I am not interested in moving to Florida.

BGW

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Budule

See this thread....

http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/elect...0f-months.html

kendeiss

I have been storing our Cart at A Campground in Western Pennsylvania.All the carts are stored in a building no heat.we all make sure the batteries are fully charged we disconnect both Neg and Pos Terminals from the Battery pack.No one has ever had s problem.Make sure you top off water lvel followed by 2 or 3 full charges to be sure water is blended.

Volt_Ampere

If you have power available, I would get a "Battery Tender" to keep them charged. I use these on my car that I leave in AZ all summer and my car that I leave in CO all winter.

tjcin

Thanks for the responses. I read the thread you mentioned and will follow that procedure I guess. IMO though, a cold winter would decrease battery life if not charged or maintained.

tjcin

Anybody you know of sell an 8v maintainer?

Budule

keep as a pack....separating them would be crazy to much work....hook up a little battery minder as stated earlier if you want but not really needed imo...

tjcin

I am new to this, so I hope this isn't a stupid question, but is there such a thing as a 48v maintainer?

cartattach

They make battery tenders in 36 and 48 volt styles. However, a 2011 Precedent charger has the same design in it's factory charger that the battery tender does. Once fully charged, the charger will only come on to "top off" the batteries if and when the charge falls below a preset level. When it comes on, it will only run long enough to return the pack to full charge. The factory charger also has a built in circuit breaker and fuse to to safeguard the system. While I understand your prudence, it isn't really necessary in this day and age. Leave it plugged in, you'll be fine. I've had customers leave a cart plugged in over 12 months in duration with no issues. That is the best bet to maintain the battery service life.

tjcin

Thanks for the input everyone. The cart will be 550 miles from my home this winter. I'm pretty sure that everything would be fine if I left it plugged in, but my comfort level doing that isn't very high. I think I am going to bring them home and put them in my heated shop for the winter. If I decide to go for a maintainer, well that remains to be seen. All great info and thanks again. Tim