Battery Care Pays Off
Among the more neglected pieces of gear aboard most
boats are the primary storage batteries, which faithful-
ly crank the engine and light the lights. In the case of
the typical lead-acid battery, even benign neglect is
tantamount to abuse.
It’s small wonder that many battery manufacturers
refuse to recognize the warranty on batteries used
aboard boats. The normal marine battery cycling -
relatively high discharge rates with no charging, fol-
lowed by rapid charging at a high rate by high-output
alternators - is murder on conventional automotive
batteries, and not exactly a piece of cake even for deep
cycle batteries, constructed to absorb this type of
abuse.
You can, however, increase the life of your existing
batteries, and dramatically extend the life of new bat-
teries if you will take the time to give them the care
they deserve both on and off your boat.
This is particularly true when it comes to off season
care of boat batteries. If you’re putting the boat away
for more than a month, you should take several steps
to guarantee that you’ll get maximum service from
your batteries.
l Check electrolyte level in each battery cell. Top up
cells only to the appropriate level - check the battery
caps to see what the full level indicator is for the
particular battery.
l Make sure batteries are fully charged. This may
mean running the engine, plugging into shore power
to operate the boat’s converter, or using an automo-
tive-type 110 volt charger.
l Thoroughly clean and dry the top of the battery.
When bringing up the electrolyte level in a low
battery, use distilled water. Even though your local
tap water may be relatively free of chemicals that
might damage the battery, why take the chance? You
can buy distilled water at any drug store.
Only clean the top of the battery when the caps are
in place on the cell. This keeps foreign matter out of
the battery.
Use a hydrometer to check each cell in the battery.
Use the largest hydrometer available, rather than a 6”
long miniature one. The scale will be more accurate.
Remember that hydrometers are usually calibrated
for an electrolyte temperature of 77” F. A battery
whose electrolyte is warmer than 77” - which it is
likely to be while the battery is charging, or im-
mediately thereafter - will give a specific gravity
reading lower than the true specific gravity of the
electrolyte. Conversely, a cold battery - one left on
the boat over the winter and read on a 40” day, for
example - will have an indicated specific gravity, as
shown by the hydrometer, which is higher than its
correct specific gravity.
Keeping the batteries charged while a boat is either
out of commission or simply not being used for a while
is vital to battery health. In cold climates, if the boat is
laid up ashore, the best practice is to remove the bat-
teries from the boat, storing them in a basement, shop
or garage that isn’t allowed to get below freezing.
Once a month, the batteries can be checked, and
brought up to full charge as necessary using an auto-
motive-type battery charger of about six amp output.
Don’t just leave the charger on the batteries all the
time. Overcharging will cause the battery to gas, and
the electrolyte level will drop. This will shorten battery
life by damaging the plates.
If you are religious about checking and charging
your batteries, there’s nothing wrong with leaving
them in the boat when laid up, even in a cold climate.
A fully-charged battery won’t freeze in temperatures
well below 0” F. Remember, however, that an idle
battery will discharge slowly, even with no load
placed on it, so you can’t charge them once in the fall
and forget them. Monthly checking and charging are
still called for.
If your boat is equipped with a 110 volt inlet and a
marine voltage converter/battery charger, the simple
solution for off season battery maintenance might
seem to be to plug in the shore power cord and let the
charger do the work. This can be risky. If for some
reason the charger fails to shut off when the batteries
are charged, extreme gassing and virtual destruction
of the batteries could result, particularly with a high
output charger - one charging at 10 amps or more.
In addition, many boatyards won’t allow you to
leave 110 volt power running to your boat 24 hours a
day unless the boat is checked daily. They’re not being
picky, they’re just being cautious. In addition to bat-
tery chargers, boatowners have the habit of leaving
things like electric heaters operating which can quick-
ly overload circuits and power cords. A 15 amp battery
charger/converter and a 1500 watt heater can put a lot
of load on the typical 30 amp 110 volt system, especial-
ly when you add a few 110 volt lights.
Even with a fully automatic charger, the safest prac-
tice is to only have the charger operating when you’re
around to keep an eye on it. Besides, this gives you an
excuse to hang around the boatyard for a day once a
month during the winter. If you don’t have enough
small projects to keep you busy one day a month, or
don’t enjoy just sitting in your boat dreaming about
warm weather, perhaps you should take up chicken
farming.