Storing boat - charging battery

[FishDiver]

I just moved to a place where I can't store my boat in the garage. I can't afford inside storage so I plan to store it outside in a locked and gated area. The boat is an old aluminum Bass Tracker and I am not concerned about the weather beating it up.

The problem is that the storage areas have no power to charge batteries. What is the best way to maintain the trolling motor battery? I assume I will have to pull it out and take it home to charge after each trip. What is the best system of quick-disconnects, carry systems, etc. to do this?

[Jig Man]

If you fish a couple of times each month a Stay in Charge might do the trick for you.  Check them out.

http://www.stayncharge.com/

[Way2slow]

You should check the water level in them and charge them each month, never go longer than two months.

A lot of deep cycle batteries have carry straps built in.  If they are Trojans, or a similar top, the Trojan dealer can give you a carry strap for them.  I would just undo the nuts on the studs but if you want a quick disconnect, these  will work fine  http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0001110011811a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=connectors&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

[FishDiver]

If you fish a couple of times each month a Stay in Charge might do the trick for you. Check them out./

Looks cool, but my truck is too old for the circuitry.

[jim payne]

That is not true, what year and make is your truck. If your boat is in a storage you are not able to go into and charge them then the only smart thing to do is to take them home and keep them charged there.

[Glenn]

Take them home and charge them.  Replace the nuts on the battery posts with wingnuts.

Either that, run a really long extension cord from your house to your storage unit. 

[FishDiver]

That is not true, what year and make is your truck. If your boat is in a storage you are not able to go into and charge them then the only smart thing to do is to take them home and keep them charged there.

The specs in the ad claimed the vehicle had a to be a 1999 or newer with a special 7 pin plug. I have a '94.

[triton18]

99 and newer vehicles have the 7 pin connector added on from the factory. usually all you have to do is put in a fuse for the charge wire.

but you can put a 7 pin on an older truck and still use the stay n charge system. you just have to run a wire from the positive post of the battery or the charge wire from the alt. (depending on the truck) to the plug and a negative wire to the plug.  (the negative wire could be hooked to the frame of the truck) just make sure to put a breaker on the hot wire as close as you can to the battery!   I had to do this to mine. it took about 30 min. works great.

[jim payne]

We make the Original harness both ways, 1. comes with all the wire and circuit breaker to wire the 99 and older trucks. 2. 7 prong plug for the newer vevhicles.

But still if you are leaving the boat somewere you can't get to it for long periods of time you should take them home and service them and charge them there and you will get a good season out of them for next year.

[bassattackerdad]

Once your batteries are fully charged, take them off your charger and put them on a float charger. This will keep them from discharging and it won't burn them up from overcharging. You can find a float charger pretty cheap.

[coopie84]

I heard keeping your cranking battery in the boat helps...wondering why or if anyone does that???

[Way2slow]

That only insures you will be buying a new battery every year if it's not kept on a maintainer.