Heat speeds up battery self-discharge and chemical aging. Combine that with small parasitic loads and months without charging, and many lead-acid batteries come out of a Florida summer ruined.
Before you leave
- Charge fully. A full battery resists sulfation much better than a partly discharged one.
- Top up flooded batteries with distilled water, after charging.
- Stop the drains. Turn off the battery disconnect. If you're not sure it isolates everything, disconnect the negative cable. See battery disconnect switches.
- Turn off the inverter.
- Choose a charging plan. If the storage spot has power and your converter is a modern multi-stage unit, leaving it plugged in can work. With an old single-stage converter, use a proper battery maintainer instead.
- Solar can maintain batteries if the panels get sun and the controller is set correctly. Under a covered canopy, it won't do much.
- Chassis battery: disconnect it too, or use a maintainer. Many motorhomes don't charge the chassis battery from shore power.
Lithium storage
Most lithium makers recommend storing at a partial state of charge and disconnected. Follow your battery maker's guidance.
When you return
Check voltage before you try anything. If batteries are flat, charge them fully and then get them tested. A battery that comes back to full voltage may still have lost capacity.
Let us do it
We offer storage and seasonal care visits before and after storage.