Battery Storage and Care

I have 2 deep cycle batteries and 2 smaller fish finder batteries.

As stated I always charge them fully before and after any fishing trips.

All winter long the deep cycles are idle and get charged every 2 to 3 months.

The small fish finders get charged a couple types in the summer whenever I remember about them. But what I do notice is these small FF batteries are very good at holding charge when not in use. My charger light goes green when they are charged and even after 3 or 4 months sitting in the basement, they are fully charged in less the 2 minutes on the charger.

Yes battery life is 7 to 10 years. But with proper care, I have had them last 12 years or so.

That apparently is a myth that has been debunked.

yes, I think so.


I have 4 starting batts and 4 deep cycles as well as 4 portable fish finder batts.

they all go in a corner of basement fully charged for winter and if in sorage get a boost every 4 months....no issues on any

my nephew has 2 new batteries every year cause he puts them away uncharged every year for decades and has 2 dead ones every spring/early summer...he just will not learn

I almost made this thread myself last week but on deep cycle batteries. Glad u did. Long shank may have answered my question right here in charging the batteries first.


Secondary question though. Do you you guys do a full 12amp charge or just a top up/ trickle charge with 2 amps?
From what I understand deep cycle batteries only have a certain amount of charges and I'm wondering if a trickle charge counts as a charge so to speak.

Any advice would be great as I'm not the most experienced with anything other than replacing batteries lol.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article...store_batteries

Thanks but Too in depth for me. I just need layman's terms and people's experiences.
I can find 10 articles of how to store batteries and then another 10 that suggest the opposite

I use a Genious 100 for all my bigger batts...….does it all for you

for the small batts I use a different one designed for those babies


btw Fork, you know my nephew?

I dont know do I?

Thanks but Too in depth for me. I just need layman's terms and people's experiences.
I can find 10 articles of how to store batteries and then another 10 that suggest the opposite

The long and the short orf it is. Put them away fully charged and top them up every couple of months or put them on a smart technology trickle maintenance charger. Either way as long as they aren't too deeply discharged they will last for years.

Putafork I used to sell batteries and deal with battery manufacturers.

The info and training I got from them was to keep your battery fully charged all the time. A battery maintainer should be connected all winter. A proper deep cycle battery charger will have a maintainer built in.

A proper maintainer will have a cycle when a battery is fully charger where it drops down to have an amp but jumps the voltage charging to above 14.2 volts. The reason for this is during charging deep cycle batteries sulfates build up on the lead plates. Sulfates are crystallized acid that become unable to hold a charge. These sulfates will break down with voltages above 14.2 volts but it’s a slow process. When this is done by a proper charger every charge the sulfates don’t have a chance to for in enough of a quantity to harm the battery in any major way.

I do know specifically that the BassPro chargers which are made by Pro Mariner are both designed to have a maintainer that runs at 14.4 volts. I Leave all my boat batteries connected all winter. In the spring I top up the distilled water. In this way I have never had a deep cycle battery go bad.

The first set I had lasted ten years and were still going strong but my boat was hit by lightening and the battery and charger blew up......I have 3 years on the ones I have now

What about the water you use when they need a top up, very important to check on that once and a while and only use distilled water.

And never let a battery drain to 0 each time you do that it will hold a little less the next time it gets charged up.

Thanks but Too in depth for me. I just need layman's terms and people's experiences.
I can find 10 articles of how to store batteries and then another 10 that suggest the opposite

The long and the short orf it is. Put them away fully charged and top them up every couple of months or put them on a smart technology trickle maintenance charger. Either way as long as they aren't too deeply discharged they will last for years.

Thanks for breaking it down for me.
Much appreciated


I think that's one thing I need to start doing in general after a fishing trip charge them. I have it stuck in my head though that deep cycle batteries only have a certain amount of charges so if I don't run them right down and I'm only doing a top up I feel like I'm wasting a charge. Maybe it's better to just charge full at every chance though

Bingo you win. I use a VDC maintainer for the small batteries and the CTEK for larger Ones. NOCO is another good one.

Putaforkinya always top up your battery after use.

If you leave a battery partially drained you’re not doing yourself any favours. If you’re topping up your battery that you have used say 30% charge you have a lot more charging cycles than if you drain it 40%. The deeper you discharge a deep cycle battery the fewer charges you get. Also leaving it discharged for longer periods of time damages the battery and it will not take 100% charge.

You do have a cycle life in charging your battery but it is not a set number. The manufacturer will give you a charging cycle life that is based on full discharge (50% with lead acid). The less you discharge your battery the more cycles you get.

Keep in mind you never really discharge lead acid more than about 50% in reality. If you manage to you doom your battery to death.