This is why you winterize/wrap EARLY in Minnesota...

As long as you followed the instructions in the manual and the stick on placards about revving the engines half throttle several times over 15 seconds when you came off the water or hose to blow excess water out of the water locks the engines will be fine. The only other water related item that would need attention would be a fresh water shower that would require draining and getting as much water as you can out. Fogging the engines is a great move as well. The only other thing would have been to have put fuel stabilizer in the tank, filled the tank and run the boat around to get the treated fuel through the whole system, if you’re running non ethanol fuel this becomes less important.

There’s no such thing as “trickle chargers” anymore, trickle chargers provide a small constant charge regardless of battery charge level. Today there are smart battery tenders that have very limited charging power to maintain a battery by keeping up with natural discharge, but these battery tenders don’t supply a continuous charge, they will charge until parameters are met then stop charging, then monitor the battery voltage and turn on when the voltage drops to a set point.

The best way to store / maintain a flooded lead acid battery is to put it on a smart charger with a minimum amperage charge rate of 10-13% of the batteries Ah hour rating ( a 100 Ah battery needs a 10A charge rate minimum) and let it complete its charge cycle, check the specific gravity-note the levels for each cell, then perform a manual equalization charge ( most smart chargers have this function) and re check the specific gravity. Repeat this procedure until all cells are equal amongst each other and are between 1.265 & 1.285 specific gravity compensated for temperature. Specific gravity gravity is the only sure way to check the SOC / state of charge of a flooded lead acid battery.

Some folks put small stoppers in the pilot water outlets and other thru hulls to keep insects and their nest building activities out.

X2 on the "trickle charger". I saw too many "gassed" dead batteries that the owner had "kept on a trickle charger over the Winter" months without being monitored, while at West Marine. Use a smart charger with a battery monitoring system.

zipper said:

X2 on the "trickle charger". I saw too many "gassed" dead batteries that the owner had "kept on a trickle charger over the Winter" months without being monitored, while at West Marine. Use a smart charger with a battery monitoring system.

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I have the Minnkota onboard charger which I keep plugged in all winter. I believe it only charges when the batteries need to be topped up. Is that a good solution or are other dedicated battery tenders a better choice for long term storage?

NeoBrew said:

I have the Minnkota onboard charger which I keep plugged in all winter. I believe it only charges when the batteries need to be topped up. Is that a good solution or are other dedicated battery tenders a better choice for long term storage?

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I looked up your charger and it is not considered a trickle charger.

zipper said:

I looked up your charger and it is not considered a trickle charger.

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Yes, I don't think it charges when the batteries don't need it. My question was whether it was effective at keeping the batteries in top shape for winter storage or if it's focus might be on quickly charging batteries overnight. Or does there not need to be a distinction? As long as they are topped up, they are healthy?

In the info I saw online. I did not see any info on charge profiles, voltage/time for the stages of charging. If yours shuts down at full charge , good. What is the voltage of the battery at rest?

zipper said:

In the info I saw online. I did not see any info on charge profiles, voltage/time for the stages of charging. If yours shuts down at full charge , good. What is the voltage of the battery at rest?

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I don't have onboard voltage meters. I would have to test them manually. I can probably do that when I winterize it in a few weeks here.

The minnkota charger is a very good one.

If you leave it plugged in every 30 days it will run a charge cycle in addition to monitoring voltage and will charge if the voltage drops below 12.5 I think. Otherwise it just sits and monitors the battery.

If you have flooded lead acid batteries you need to check the specific gravity with a hydrometer which is the only way to know the state of charge of this type of battery. In addition you’ll be able to check the balance of the cells, if the cells are not balanced and or the gravity is not up to where it should be you can run a manual equalization charge to balance the cells and raise the specific gravity, its in the minnkota manual. Equalizing charges are a necessary part of maintaining deep cycle flooded lead acid batteries, this will give the best performance and life span of the battery. Running the same tests and charges on your start battery will also yield the same results.

Trickle chargers were before microprocessors, even the smallest battery tenders are smart chargers in that they only charge when needed, aka smart chargers… I don’t know of any “trickle” chargers anymore.