Winterizing the teardrop battery

Unfortunately, I live in an area where we really can't go camping all year long. So in the winter months I cover up the teardrop, take the battery out and put it on a trickle charger. If you leave the battery in a teardrop trailer all winter long without using it, the power will drain and it won't hold a charge...putting you about $250 into the hole for a new battery.

The Sunflower's galley and battery cabinet (which it shares with my pots and pans)

The battery on the charger

A bad photo of the Battery Tender

So I take out the battery and hook it up to an inexpensive trickle charger I bought at an RV store. The charger is called the Battery Tender and runs off a regular power strip. When connecting your battery to the charger, be sure to connect the positive and negative connections first and then plug the charger in. It will take a few days for the battery to charge up (depending on the size and how much of a charge it needs) and then you can unplug it. Plug it in a few more times over the course of the winter to maintain your battery's charge.

Photos by Christina Nellemann

1 comment:

  1. I have used these chargers befor. They arn't meant to completely charge a battery but give it a float charge just leave it on all winter no need to worry about over charging. I level motorcycles o them all winter

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