Do you bring your battery inside for the winter?

[Hay Dude]

I agree, probably an unfounded concern. Maintianers are a different animal than chargers or trickle chargers...they seem to limit input current to the batter as needed to maintain charge but not add extra energy that could cause issues...

Anything left plugged in is an increase in fire hazard. Even an extension cord.

We unplug everything after we are done with it. Bench grinder, welder, shop lights, etc.

When I was doing construction, I used to get risk/loss assessments from my insurance company. They said the #1 reason construction sites burn down is because contractors leave extension cords & tools plugged in overnight.

 

[bmaverick]

I usually charge all my batteries with a smart charger late in December and then again in the spring and that's been fine. But I have a 6V "weak" battery in my IH Super C that I'm thinking of bringing into the heated garage for the winter. Maybe others like my old truck and some tractors.

I know it can't hurt but does it help?

Not only machine and vehicle batteries do I bring in, I also do the rechargeable types. Learned the hard way the -20F temps here for 2 or 3 weeks straight kills the life of the rechargeable power tool batteries quickly.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

12.30 on the V.Meter was the lowest I've see it go!

You should do your best to keep the voltage at 12.4 or better. That's supposedly the limit for when sulfation starts doing its thing.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

I always wonder if those maintainers aren’t a fire hazard
or they dry out/“boil” your batteries.

Quality ones don't hurt the batteries, like the BatteryMINDer mentioned earlier.

Could they be a fire hazard? Sure. Like you I unplug everything that's not in use, but the maintainers stay on, constantly in some cases, and for years in some cases.

But I only use ones that I trust. PulseTech is another one that I leave on the 3500 when it's not being driven - which can be for over six months at times.

 

[Quaffer]

Appreciate the reminder I just brought several in.

 

[I Piddle]

This is not empirical evidence, just my experience with one battery. I bought a new Branson tractor in 2004 and never charged the battery or had to jump-start it until it became weak in 2022, when I replaced it. The tractor was not stored but was used very little in the winter other than snow blowing or plowing, which in Western Maryland was only a few times during the winter. Typically, the coldest is in the single digits for only a week or two.

 

[SmallChange]

I have these on all the batteries

Another vote for this.

My tractor lives in an enclosed bay of my pole barn. It's kind of a tight fit and works much better to back in. That puts the battery towards the front of the bay, but I don't want cables laying around the path the tractor has to drive. So, I put those cables on my battery, and added an extension that is threaded and tied most cleverly through the length of the tractor, terminating a little above the 3PT top link mount point. More cable runs from a maintainer on the back wall off the bay and hangs down behind the tractor so they can plug together. If I forget to unplug this when I bring the tractor out, no harm. And none of this is down low where I might trip on it.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Heat is bad for vehicle batteries.
Cold environments are actually good for longevity. It’s only detrimental if you leave the battery highly discharged in sub freezing temperatures.
If you keep your battery in a decent charged state, there’s nothing wrong with leaving it out in the cold.

View attachment 1802684

Cold is also up for interpretation, I would say cool temperatures is ideal but if left in the cold some fail safe should be done like disconnecting the battery and periodically charging it, to ensure it is kept full charge and doesn't freeze. Like you said it is good for a battery to be left in the freezing temperture but it need to be fully charged and making sure it doesn't loose its charge, since the freezing point of a fully charged batterie is -60C, a partially discharge battery could be as low as -23C...-23 is a typical winter day for use.

 

[Oaktree]

That's what I did. All of my rigs have ring terminal to SAE connectors installed on them because the battery maintainers have SAE ends. The ring terminals go to the battery terminals and the SAE end is attached somewhere out of the way but still easy to get to. So no lifting the hood or messing with battery clamps. Here's an example:

Amazon.com

I like the fact that they're fused.

When I was doing construction, I used to get risk/loss assessments from my insurance company. They said the #1 reason construction sites burn down is because contractors leave extension cords & tools plugged in overnight.

Seems odd that a plugged-in power cord is going to be a fire hazard unless it's all beat up with cuts/abrasions in the insulation. Then again, I usually put things away when I'm finished for the day just for neatness' sake.
I would have thought vandalism would be a bigger issue at construction sites.

 

[kozal01]

No I do not, I will just disconnect the battery after I make sure its charged and passes a load test. I stopped using tenders a few years ago and my batteries have lasted longer just leaving them charged in the machine and disconnected.