Ford Escort - Battery Storage

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Mon 29 Mar 2010 12:52
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - Englishbullterrier

Hi, some of you may have read I bought a new Varta E11 battery for my car in the depths of winter. It was frequently down to -30c here in Latvia and the new battery helped a great deal. (It still cranked for over 40 seconds before starting though, so you can see why I needed a new battetry).

My question is for any battery experts out there.

I have taken the Varta out of my car to store until next winter, as my older battery is more than capable of starting my car in the Spring/Summer/Autumn.

Should I fully charge the battery (I have an intelligent charger that is capable of supplying a float voltage) and store it disconnected until needed next Winter, or should I leave it connected to a float charge for all this time.

Many thanks.............ebt

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Mon 29 Mar 2010 13:38
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - piston power

keep it topped up all year with a charge don't allow it to be flat for a long period and keep it off the stone floor ideally on a wooden pallet or similar.

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Mon 29 Mar 2010 16:41
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - Englishbullterrier

Thanks bigtee. Did you mean keep it constantly on a float/maintenance charge until next winter or occasionally give it a charge ??

Cheers................ebt

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Mon 29 Mar 2010 20:35
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - Peter.N.

They always used to recon to fully charge them every six weeks, thats what I do to out of service batteries and it seems to maintain them OK.

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Tue 30 Mar 2010 09:20
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - piston power

Yes as peter says 6-8 weeks keep topped up if you don't and leave it srap it.

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Tue 30 Mar 2010 12:32
Ford Escort - Battery Storage - Englishbullterrier

Yes, I guess when batteries are shipped from new, they aren't left on charge, or even get another charge before you buy them.

Based on that, and your appreciated feedback, I'll keep it warm and dry and stored off the concrete ground. A top-up charge every 2 months should see me with a battery to conquer next Winters -30c temps !!!

Thanks everyone..............ebt

Edited by Englishbullterrier on 30/03/2010 at 12:33

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