Battery Storage

[robhj]

I should have asked this question back in December. My boat has an on-board charger and is stored in my garage in the off-season. I was told by a mechanic that it would be fine to leave my on-board charger plugged in over the winter. I also have 2 spare batteries that I keep in the basement. I have been charging them up over the last 2 1/2 months periodically to keep a full charge. I was told that I could by a battery maintainer and then attach wires from one battery to the other and charge/maintain them that way. I went to Auto Zone today to buy the battery maintainer and the employee said he didn't think you could use the maintainer to charge 2 batteries at once. I don't have a problem going downstairs to charge them both up, and the charger I use automatically shuts off once the battery is charged. I just didn't know if this would decrease the life of the batteries doing it this way. What are your thoughts on keeping these batteries charged? Thanks

[Jim tenHaaf]

I think you're just talking about cables to connect both batteries together? Matt made some for ours. I use to have the trolling motor hooked up to just one battery. After 4-5 hrs (depending on current/wind) we would have to unhook that one, and hook up the other. After the connecting cables, I have yet to run the batteries dead. 12 hrs running the trolling motor, and no problem. Much easier to charge as well. Just hook up to any of the terminals, and both get a charge.