Battery Winterization
- Thread starter Zman2610
- Start date
danemayer
Well-known member
Hi Zman2610,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.
Our batteries have been ok in extreme sub-zero weather while plugged into shore power. And at home in Colorado, in storage, the rig is plugged in and the batteries are kept charged by the Power Converter.
You do have to check the battery water level periodically. If it gets too low, you'll be buying a new battery. Once a month is probably often enough.
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.
Our batteries have been ok in extreme sub-zero weather while plugged into shore power. And at home in Colorado, in storage, the rig is plugged in and the batteries are kept charged by the Power Converter.
You do have to check the battery water level periodically. If it gets too low, you'll be buying a new battery. Once a month is probably often enough.
Chrisandsama
Well-known member
Going on 2 winters in southern Illinois plugged into shore power and as Dan said keep an eye on your water level (distilled only) and you will be fine.
CoveredWagon
Well-known member
I have a small solar panel and controller,to keep them charged.
RVFun4Us
Well-known member
On a similar note, we store our Bighorn about 160 miles away from our home (allows winter travel since we live in a snow belt). Our RV does not have AC available in the storage lot. We have two Interstate batteries in the bay. We will have about a 3 month period with no traveling this year. Will the batteries hold up for those three months leaving them in the RV with the battery disconnect on? Really don't want to haul the two batteries home and keep on a battery trickle if I don't have to.
I remove the battery from the trailer for winter storage because we do not have access to A/C power where it is stored. Our tow vehicle is unused for 3-4 months over the winter and I used to keep a float charger hooked up to maintain the batteries. Now, I just make sure the batteries are fully charged and then disconnect them and leave them (without charging) for the time we are gone. Our winters can be pretty severe, and I find the batteries hold the charge well over the period of outdoor storage. I would expect that you could disconnect your RV batteries and leave them for 3 months without issue, providing the batteries were in good shape when stored.
MarleyDogHouse
Member
What's the details on the Solar panel? size brand, did it work for you since you have had it? i just installed a kill switch on our battery - pretty simple.
CoveredWagon
Well-known member
Oregon_Camper
Well-known member
As an FYI, we made the move to Lithium (Battle Born brand) and to winterize them, all I had to do was fully charge them (or you can do 75% or greater) and then disconnect POS and NEG cable. I did this in October, went back in middle of April to hook them back up. They were at 97.5%...so I lost 2.5% over the winter and didn't have to take them out or even have them on a charger.
CoveredWagon
Well-known member
And how much did those batteries cost may I ask ?
Oregon_Camper
Well-known member
List price is $949 each.
If interested, here is my YouTube video with more details
https://youtu.be/08u7VRPeJD4
I have a pair of Trojan 6 volt batteries. MPPT controller and 200 watts of solar. Left in trailer last winter. we had -20 C here and they were just fine, a charged battery will not freeze. Checked electrolyte in the fall, midwinter and when we de-winterized. Added a little Distilled water in spring.
I used to pull 12 volt group 24 batteries. The Trojans are just too heavy to move now.
Brian
I used to pull 12 volt group 24 batteries. The Trojans are just too heavy to move now.
Brian
