Pull the Battery or Put it on a Trickle Charger

[Arolsma]

I store my Ranger in an unheated shed for the winter. I leave it there for about six months without starting it. Last year I took the battery out and put it in the house where it's warm. I didn't use a trickle charger to keep it changed at all while it was out. The truck started right up in the spring when I put the battery in. Would it prolong the battery's life if I put it on a trickle charger out of the truck and in the house this year? If it is on a trickle charger, is it better to bring it in the house, or is it just fine to leave it in the truck in the unheated shed? If it isn't bad for the battery, I will just pull it out and bring it inside with no trickle charger again. If I do use a trickle charger, I would prefer to leave the battery in the truck. Let me know what you think. Thanks

 

[rumblecloud]

i don't really know which is better, but if I were leaving it in the truck I would have it on trickle because of parasitic draw - which doesn't amount to much, but still I would trickle charge it.
A healthy battery should be okay in the house without loss. Plus it makes you feel better

 

[Blmpkn]

Stuff I don't run all winter get the batteries taken out and put in the basement.

If the battery has a hard time starting whatever it is in the spring.. I know I need to start preparing to buy a new one.

 

[2011Supercab]

If you have power in the garage, I'd leave the battery in the truck and disconnect the ground cable and put a battery maintainer on it, not a trickle charger.

Here's a quick read on the differences between trickle chargers and maintainers

How battery maintainers work

Battery maintainers allow you to charge batteries without the danger of overcharging present in other battery chargers.

www.batteriesplus.com

 

[RonD]

Car/truck batteries are made for high amp discharge then quick recharge, the battery is only there to start the engine
Alternator provides ALL vehicle power at minimum 13.5volts after start up

Cold temps slow down the chemical reaction used generate high amps, which is why it can be hard to start an engine in cold weather
But just sitting in cold temps shouldn't effect a disconnected battery as long as it doesn't freeze
A 50% charged battery won't freeze until temp is below -50degF or so
Fully charged -75degF

Trickle charging causes electrons to be exchanged between plates in the battery, this does keep it warmer but also increases the chances of a short between the plates, and you get a self draining battery

I would disconnect one battery cable for storage, and leave it
If you want to put a charger on it then do it a few days before you will be needing vehicle again, if you want

 

[Shran]

I have six vehicles that don't get driven much. Three of them are usually outside all the time. I keep them all plugged into trickle chargers, even the ones that sit in the shop where it never falls below 50 degrees... many times it has been the difference between jump starting a truck or just getting in and it fires right up. The batteries last a lot longer too - I can usually get 7 or 8 years out of a battery, sometimes 10 or more. I bought the AGM battery in my '86 in 2012 and it's still going strong.

Speaking of, if you have AGM batteries, it is extra important to keep them topped off. My experience with them is that if you have a slow draw, there will be a point where they get just low enough and short out and drain down to nothing very quickly. At that point they cannot be revived and are junk. The ones I use in my Explorer from Carquest have done that several times, they will sit at right around 12-12.5v for months and then crash to nothing overnight if you don't either trickle charge it or drive it once in a while.

 

[superj]

I wouldnt charge in the house either. The smell from.the battery when charging is not good smelling

 

[4x4junkie]

Car/truck batteries are made for high amp discharge then quick recharge, the battery is only there to start the engine
Alternator provides ALL vehicle power at minimum 13.5volts after start up

Cold temps slow down the chemical reaction used generate high amps, which is why it can be hard to start an engine in cold weather
But just sitting in cold temps shouldn't effect a disconnected battery as long as it doesn't freeze
A 50% charged battery won't freeze until temp is below -50degF or so
Fully charged -75degF

Trickle charging causes electrons to be exchanged between plates in the battery, this does keep it warmer but also increases the chances of a short between the plates, and you get a self draining battery

I would disconnect one battery cable for storage, and leave it
If you want to put a charger on it then do it a few days before you will be needing vehicle again, if you want

I agree with this. Cold doesn't affect a battery that is not in use (infact, the battery will probably last better stored in the cold than where it's warm because cold lowers the rate of self-discharge).

I have six vehicles that don't get driven much. Three of them are usually outside all the time. I keep them all plugged into trickle chargers, even the ones that sit in the shop where it never falls below 50 degrees... many times it has been the difference between jump starting a truck or just getting in and it fires right up. The batteries last a lot longer too - I can usually get 7 or 8 years out of a battery, sometimes 10 or more. I bought the AGM battery in my '86 in 2012 and it's still going strong.

Speaking of, if you have AGM batteries, it is extra important to keep them topped off. My experience with them is that if you have a slow draw, there will be a point where they get just low enough and short out and drain down to nothing very quickly. At that point they cannot be revived and are junk. The ones I use in my Explorer from Carquest have done that several times, they will sit at right around 12-12.5v for months and then crash to nothing overnight if you don't either trickle charge it or drive it once in a while.

I've experienced that with pretty much every type of lead-acid battery, not just AGM...
What happens is, if a battery sits at anything less than 100%-charged for a prolonged period, over time the lead sulfate on the battery plates starts to harden. When it hardens, it becomes non-conductive (and is why a badly-sulfated battery behaves much like an open circuit).
Fully recharging the battery returns all the (unhardened) lead sulfate back into it's lead and sulfuric acid constituents. Once hardened however, the only way to revive it is with a special pulsating (desulfating) charger (and that's only if the sulfate is still attached to the plates... If it flakes off and falls down to the bottom of the cell (usually the result of impact or vibration), then the battery is done forever).

 

[Josh B]

My 12 months walmart battery was 50 bucks, 5 years ago. About 3 years ago i got an Explorer and hoped to keep it going but after 6 or eight months I guess it blew the front transmission seal, after I had given it a new 12 month battery also. Still I plan to use the Explorers engine in the Ranger whenever that time comes.

Now I swap the batteries about every 6 months, and they both stay in one or another of the vehicles battery compartments outside, and no matter how soon either one blows. I already have my money's worth out of them, and still neither is showing any signs of letting up.

Maybe I'll post back on this in a few years

 

[sgtsandman]

If the battery is in good condition, all you should need to do is disconnect the negative cable.

Since I still deploy for months at a time, I took the time to install a quick disconnect on the negative cable in my 2011. There isn’t enough room in the engine bay to install on on the 2019. So, the negative terminal just gets disconnected.

Both have started right up with no problem regardless of weather conditions while it sat.

 

[mikkelstuff]

I bought a solar trickle battery charger just for this. 27 bucks on Amazon. There maybe even cheaper available.

 

[Arolsma]

Thanks for the info. I ended up just pulling the battery out and putting it in the house like last year. It sounds like this should be okay