Leisure battery storage over winter

[Dustydog]

The old girl now has a fully charged ex Kia Cee’d battery in her housing. The very expensive Numax Leisure battery is at home in the garage until March.
It rests on a thick piece of timber. Would I have damaged the Numax if I left it on the concrete floor?

I plan to use a smart charger every six weeks or so. Plus I intend to run some lights etc off the Numax just to “use” it.
Would you guys do anything different?

 

[RogerL]

It's urban myth to suggest that putting batteries on a concrete floor harms them - but if the garage is unheated it will get cold which reduces it's capacity - it'll recover in spring though.

Using a smart charger every 4-6 weeks is a good idea

 

[Jcloughie]

So far as I know, cold does batteries no harm. People seem to use them all the time in Alaska for example. We had a battery room in work. Placed away from everywhere. No heating, window always open.

John

 

[Gafferbill]

.....flat lead acid batteries freeze in sub zero temperatures resulting in split casings.
No problem if kept charged.

 

[Buckman]

Our AGM battery is in our conservatory which has no heating. It is in a box with styrofoam in the bottom. I charged it every 4 - 6 weeks.

 

[JTQ]

Leaving a lead acid battery flat or close to is going to make it useless for much other than a door stop, it does not need being cold.

Best to keep LA batteries fully charged, winter and throughout the year. Mine I aim to keep on smart chargers.

 

[Challenger]

Leaving a lead acid battery flat or close to is going to make it useless for much other than a door stop, it does not need being cold.

Best to keep LA batteries fully charged, winter and throughout the year. Mine I aim to keep on smart chargers.

Myth I'm afraid.https://northeastbattery.com/batteries-vs-concrete-floors-need-know/

 

[JTQ]

Myth I'm afraid.https://northeastbattery.com/batteries-vs-concrete-floors-need-know/

Where, does that even claim, let alone prove what I stated, and has long been known as best practice, that is keeping LA batteries fully charged, is a "myth"?

 

[borderbilly]

Myth I'm afraid.https://northeastbattery.com/batteries-vs-concrete-floors-need-know/

Interesting read 👍

 

[ProfJohnL]

It's simply good practice to keep LA batteries in a good state of charge. regardless of what surface they are sitting on.

Generally all types of battery have an optimum operating temperature range and a storage range. The chemical reactions that occur inside a battery are usually affected by temperature, cooler temps tend to slow down reactions, thus batteries that are too cold perform less well, and can exhibit reduced charge capacity, and reduce maximum discharge current capabilities.

With a LA, if it gets too cold the electrolyte can freeze, the freezing point is dependnanton the state of charge, the higher the charge the lower the freezing point. A fully 0% discharged battery can freeze at -1C where as a fully 100% charged battery in good condition will resist freezing down to about -70C.

The major risk of freezing is as the electrolyte contains some water and it solidifies, it will expand and can crack the battery casing causing acid leaks. It will also likely damage the internal plates rendering the battery useless, and if significant distortions have occured the battery can short out internally and over heat with a potential risk of explosion which can spray acid around the vicinity.

From the temperature range above you can see that keeping an LA battery well charged should be more than enough to prevent freezing in the UK and in most human inhabited parts of the world.

Older battery construction methods might have reacted with damp concrete, but modern plastics cases should be immune unless the battery is damaged.