Battery in mower during 'winter' in Texas

kbuicker · Dec 5, 2016

Fellas, my mower is only a few months old... but we're moving into Winter pretty soon and I want to make sure it starts next season.

Since it's new, do I need to worry about a charger? I have a nice charger that will trickle charge it, but I don't know if that is necessary or not.

I also took care of the full with StaBil.

GAFarmer2 · Dec 5, 2016

As my Dad always said: better safe than sorry. You already have the charger, so the cost to you would be nil. If nothing else, crank it up and let it run up to temp once every couple weeks.

Bird · Dec 5, 2016

I used a battery maintainer from Sears to keep the battery in good condition for my riding mower.

truckdiagnostics · Dec 5, 2016

In Texas yes you do. Over the winter months due to your higher ambient temp the battery will discharge over time. Once a lead acid battery sits in a discharged state for a period of time it will sulfate. It is the sulfation that will be your issue in the spring, it will keep your battery from taking a charge and it will loose capacity. The best way to store it is fully charged, then put it in your freezer! Then you would not need the battery maintainer.

crackerjack222 · Dec 5, 2016

If you disconnect the battery you should be good for all three months of "winter" (two months in S. TX). Be careful of the battery maintainers, I left one on an ATV battery for about six months and the battery had no acid in it at the end of that time. I would not leave a maintainer on a battery for more than one month. I also had an "airport car" that I disconnected the battery between uses. I could let that car sit that way for six months, then connect the battery and the car would start right up. And this was in the mountains of northern New Mexico where the temps got to below zero occasionally.

CCWKen · Dec 5, 2016

Some of those cheap maintainers output a constant 1 - 2 amps and don't "read" the battery. They'll boil a battery dry. I've got a few permanent mount maintainers on two tractors and a ZTR. The other tractors I just start up and run them on fast idle a while about every two weeks. The DR trimmer has it's own charger so I plug that in every couple of weeks for a half day (when I break for lunch). Then there's the battery powered tools, flashlights, gate alerts, motion sensors, weather station, etc. Batteries are real PITA. Can't wait 'till everything goes nuke-powered.

Bird · Dec 6, 2016

Some of those cheap maintainers output a constant 1 - 2 amps and don't "read" the battery. They'll boil a battery dry.

Right. That's the reason I bought this one. Four years ago, it was $29.99 plus tax.
Sears.com

truckdiagnostics · Dec 6, 2016

If you have the room save the money, put it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. Lower temp keeps it from discharging over time. if it is fully charged it will never freeze. No matter how good your battery maintainer is based on where you live the ambient temp is allowing that battery to constantly discharge and charge. Therefore, lowering the battery life. In the freezer over the three months this is not occurring it is too cold.

dickfoster · Dec 6, 2016

truckdiagnostics said:
In Texas yes you do. Over the winter months due to your higher ambient temp the battery will discharge over time. Once a lead acid battery sits in a discharged state for a period of time it will sulfate. It is the sulfation that will be your issue in the spring, it will keep your battery from taking a charge and it will loose capacity. The best way to store it is fully charged, then put it in your freezer! Then you would not need the battery maintainer.

No freezer.

truckdiagnostics · Dec 6, 2016

dickfoster said:
No freezer.

Fully charged in the freezer is the best place. Think about it. Now there maybe logistic reasons not too, that is the best place. As long as you bring it out and let it warm up to ambient temp in the spring it will be fine! By putting it in the freezer you are slowing down the movement of the electrons so it won't discharge. A fully charged battery will never freeze in your freezer it does not get cold enough, and with the slower discharge rate from being in the freezer, it is not going to get low enough to freeze. If you left a lead acid battery in there over a long period it could freeze, but you are only leaving it in there for three months. You can't be stupid about it and leave it in there for three years take it right out and hook it up to a battery charger. With a battery maintainer you are keeping the electrons moving so you are going to decrease the batteries life some what, just while it is sitting. If the electrons in the battery are not moving around as much, say when your not using it, it will last longer.