Storing My Cart for the cold Canadian winter

andystmichael

Hi All;
I am new to colf carts and the maintenance of them. But I am slowly learning through this forum.:thumb
I live in Renfrew Ontario, Canada. I am storing the cart in my unheated garage. It gets cold up here in the winter time. My question to my fellow carters is. It gets to about -20 degrees F at times in this area. If I fully charge my Batteries before I put my cart away for the winter will it be OK in the spring? Or should I plug the charger in every month or so or should I leave the charger plugged in all the time? I am afraid to leave the charger plugged in all the time just in case if overheating and starting a fire. I saw a cart that was left plugged in and the solinoid and wires were burnt. What is the normal way of storing the batteries for the winter?
Thanks for your help.
Andy

BGW

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Stevec3201

Do some research on trojan's website and read the stickies. Batteries will not freeze if they are charged up. If you have a good charger, it should be designed to be left plugged in to maintain the charge. The CC charger will turn on every 2 weeks to add some charge to keep the batteries at the proper voltage. Read the Powerdrive sticky. If your cart is in good shape, all wires and cables are tight, water level good, etc, you should be fine. I would check on the cart every couple of weeks to make sure everything is good, though. Read the info on scottyb's (carts unlimitted) website, great info!
Have a nice winter and see you around in 9 months (just kidding)

scottyb

You should recharge every 4 weeks to be safe. Wet cell batteries loose 1% of their charge each day..... down 30% in a month, down 90% and in danger of freezing in 3 months time.
Some aftermarket chargers are made for this type of use with a once a month or every two week check on the batteries done automatically and then it comes on when needed...... If I lived in the snow country ~ I would invest in one. They cost less than half of what a battery pack does.

lockman1

OR...

You could pull them out, and bring them inside where it's "a bit" warmer... or, is that not an option?

erict

Mine will be stored in a non-heated pole barn during the winter and thought about pulling mine out as well but have decided to just turn the charger on each month. Even though the charger is designed to be left plugged in I just don't feel good leaving it unattended for 5-6 months plugged in for safety sake

Fishing Dude

I disconect my batteries when I store the cart. They are fully charged, and never had a problem. Leave them hooked up dead in 2 months

lockman1

This is the way I did my sparky, and still do it with my gasser, without a problem!
BUT... the temps here only get to -15 degrees for a week at a shot,
I'm guessing that in Canada... the colder temps stick around "a bit" longer!

Andy, being that your cart will be in your garage, and won't be "completely" unattended during the winter months,
Disconnecting the batteries, and/or throwing the charger on them every few of weeks, won't be bad,
just as long as you keep a strict maintenance schedule and a close eye on them though out winter, you should be fine.

if you forget about them... plan on problems!

.02

andystmichael

Hi Guys;
Thanks for all of your input. After reading all the replies, I think I will plug the charger in every two weeks or so. I am in the garage every day anyway, so why not just plug it in before I leave for work. I don't trust it to be left plugged in all the time. Machines can't think. So it can make a mistake and burn my garage down with my toys inside.
Thanks again guys
Andy

lockman1

Just make sure you keep an eye on the water levels and you should be good to go!

shadowman

thats the best thing if you can charge them every two weeks do that......mine are up camp and winter can be pretty rugged up there but with good fully charged batteries i have them ( my carts ) sit outside uncovered for 4 months and have been able to just jump on them and drive them over to the shed to charge them.........if i didn,t have to leave the charger outside i might just leave it plugged up but not with having to leave it outside...........i,m tossing around bringing them home this winter to put in a heated garage but i don,t want to spoil them..............now if your batteries are iffy and you leave it for the winter unchecked and uncharged you find yourself with a disaster come spring.......................................