Marine Battery Question

[10Bears]

How long can a marine bettery set without being charged? If I were to fill the cells with water and put it on the charger would it hold a charge any more?

[Surface Tension]

Not sure what your asking.

If the battery is maintained at proper levels and charged after each use, thats best for the battery life. You want to avoid having the plates exposed to air and stored without a charge.

Once charged,a stored battery should easily go a month without showing any noticeable discharge.

[Whoaru99]

If the battery plates have been exposed for a long time it may be ruined - or at least, of diminished capacity.

There's only one way to know and that's to give it a go.

[BobT]

My Stowaway deep cycle, outboard cranking battery, and lawn mower battery had been sitting in my basement since last fall. I check fluid levels periodically throughout the summer and add water as necessary. Although distilled water is best I use softened and filtered tap water. I put the charger on them once in December and again last weekend before I put them back in their respective equipment. In both instances, my charger immediately indicated they were all fully charged. I think I might have been able to leave them off the charger all winter without losing significant charge.

[Cabela10]

You want to use distilled water and you want to keep the batteries charged. After use, you will want to recharge them to full atleast 24-48 hours after discharge. That will give you a long battery life. Thats straight from MinnKota's trolling motor book.

[10Bears]

Thanks guys, that's what I thought. A buddy of mine game me a Exide Nautilus Gold that had been setting in his garage for about 3 years. I didn't know if I should even bother to fill it with distilled water and try to charge it.