Leave boat plugged in all winter??

Molson

Molson

Active Member
Aug 5, 2011
1,118
Midland, ON
Boat Info
1997 330 DA
Engines
Twin 7.4 carb V-Drives
I'm REALLY ahead of myself, but I go nuts if I don't think about boating and boating related things.

I'm moving marinas this year, and it doesn't include winter storage. I'll be bringing the boat home for the winter. I like it better this way, I can work on it at my leisure and won't have to worry about trucking things back and forth.

I was thinking last night while snowblowing the driveway, AGAIN, that when its at home, I may just leave the batteries hooked up and leave the shorepower plugged in for the winter to keep a charge up. I have a Pro Mariner 1240P charger, which does have a float/maintain mode, so in essence I shouldn't have to worry about boiling batteries. I worry more about freezing them, especially this winter.

whatcha think?
 
I leave mine plugged in all winter. Make sure to top off the water (unless you're maintenance free) at put up. I also leave a couple of dehumidifiers running... one in the cabin and one in the cockpit under the cover.
 
If they're good batteries, charged up fully, and you remove the negative cables they won't freeze. BUT, it's still better for your batteries if you keep them on charge all the time. The charger you have is a really good one and even has a de-sulphation mode. The best thing you can do for your batteries is keep them on charge all the time.
 
An old trick to stop mechanical things freezing was to put a 60w light bulb in the engine space..surprising how much heat is generated in an enclosed area.
Btw..I'm with you..spring can't come fast enough..this forum makes my day!!
 
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My boat stays plugged in year 'round. Stay on top of battery water levels and you'll be fine.
 
Timeflys said:
An old trick to stop mechanical things freezing was to put a 60w light bulb in the engine space..surprising how much heat is generated in an enclosed area.
Btw..I'm with you..spring can't come fast enough..this forum makes my day!!
Click to expand...
You can also take a clay pot, adapt the bottom hole to accept a "light socket" then put the 60W bulb in it. Turn it upside down in the clay drip plate and there you have a heater/dehumidifier.
 
I've used a old FD light. It's supposed to be explosion proof. It has a nice round base and is heavy. It works very nicely. As for being plugged in...always!
 
Thanks folks, I figured as much! I like the idea of having the dehumidifier running all the time. I'd just have to remember to go in and empty the container every so often, or rig it out to drain outside.
 
I have a 30x60 pole barn and leave it plugged in all winter.
 
Mine stays in the water, plugged to shore power year around. I do have a bilge heater.
 
No option of leaving it in the water here! Haha. 2 feet of ice on the bay right now, and 3' of snow on the ground.
 
If your boat is shrink wrapped, there is some risk of excessive off gassing from the batteries getting trapped inside the cover if its plugged in all winter. Can't say I have personally witnessed an issue with this ever but its something to watch for. AGM's don't really off gas so if you're running AGM's, its not much of a concern. That being said, AGM's, will maintain their charge for a much longer duration during storage. I personally plug mine in for a few days every couple weeks. Keeps everything happy.

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BigBoysToys said:
If your boat is shrink wrapped, there is some risk of excessive off gassing from the batteries getting trapped inside the cover if its plugged in all winter. Can't say I have personally witnessed an issue with this ever but its something to watch for. AGM's don't really off gas so if you're running AGM's, its not much of a concern. That being said, AGM's, will maintain their charge for a much longer duration during storage. I personally plug mine in for a few days every couple weeks. Keeps everything happy.

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In theory you might be on to something but, never heard of a problem due to this... if you manage to get anywhere near an airtight wrap, you need to install vents due to a very possible mold issue. I have a dozen vents installed in mine to prevent this problem.
 
My marina actually doesn't allow boats to be plugged in after shrinkwrapping for this reason. Of course this also guarantees that no one plugs in an oversized heater and causes an electrical fire. The other issue is that the wrap covers the fuel tank vents. With changes in temperature, gas fumes can be captured in the shrinkwrapping and an electrical spark could ignite them. Again, aside from the heater fire, I've never seen these issues actually occur but it is spelled out in black and white on the winter storage contract.

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First part of shrink wrapping a boat is to seal off the fuel tank vents.
Marinas don't want you to run a heater because of fire and the cost of electric.
 
Mine's tucked away in our boat garage on the trailer all year whenever we're not on the water and she's plugged in all year long.
 
dwna1a said:
I've used a old FD light. It's supposed to be explosion proof. It has a nice round base and is heavy. It works very nicely. As for being plugged in...always!
Click to expand...


i just threw out a bunch of those. wish i saw this before i cleaned out the storage trailer. all were broken but could have scavenged a few to make a few good ones.
 
dpmulvey said:
FD light?
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Fire department light. i'll see if i can get a picture of one for you. I knew what he was talking about as we still use some of the old ones. i'm at work now, i'll go take a pic.

here you go

 
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