Quote Originally Posted by air1lch View Post
Waterdog,
Curious about #9. "Never use a portable heater or auto battery charger in bilge."
Why not leave charger comected during winter months? I leave my 3 bank charger connected (Dec-Feb). 2 banks to the trolling batteries and 1 bank to the starting. I was told this will help prevent build up on the plates and keep them fully-charged without affecting life of battery?
Am I wrong? Am I better off to pull and store in garage, basement, etc...?
I usually leave it connected too. I think they are worried about an enclosed spaces and the buildup of Hydrogen gas, which is a byproduct of charging lead acid batteries.

A heat source in the bilge area, if it is enclosed, while charging is a good way to blow things up..

And leaving an old, poor charger hooked up all the time is a good way to destroy a battery.

That said, I always plug my boat in when I get home, and usually unplug it after it is fully charged. Then, when I'm ready to go, I usually plug it in the night before to top off or whatever, and head down the road. When charging, I always crack the lid to vent any gasses that are created by charging.

Later,

Geo