Winter Storage & Lithium Boat Battery

I have my boat stored in an unheated garage in Northern MN. For various reasons, my lithium batts are still in the boat. Not ideal I know…the temp was -22 last night.

Rather then pull them – they are hell to get out and especially to put back in come Spring – I have an idea to float to the IDO crowd. This could be dumb so thats why I’m asking – help avoid a potential problem.

Do you see any harm in throwing an outdoor heated pet blanket over the batteries in the battery box and leave it there over the next few months? The heated blanket is on a thermostat I could set to ‘low’.

Thoughts? Anyone ever done it??

I personally wouldnt risk it. Thats a lot of money in batteries to potentially ruin.

I wonder if there is a fire hazard leaving it on so long unsupervised. I know they usually have some kind of smarts in the controller now but I’ve seen the controller itself start smoking on one we had. What if a mouse chews something or who knows what could happen.

This is from Battle Borns website. Your conditions are not ideal but as long as you don’t charge them they might not get damaged. I would try to get them out in a warmer site.

From BB:https://battlebornbatteries.com/will-lithium-batteries-freeze/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsOq6BhDuARIsAGQ4-zh2-I-p-_V5GgT82mGeqvcMQ3XFESU_0ZOBrG2ARmbRFOL5QIAielQaAsY5EALw_wcB”>

I don’t know, an unattended electrical heating device that’s probably made in China or Pakistan, running 24/7 unattended, in a confined compartment next to multiple high-energy batteries in a garage.

I have always taken batteries out of everything that is in unheated storage. I don’t even leave cordless tool batteries in unheated spaces. I just wouldn’t risk it both money and safety wise.

What’s the difference between that and dewalt and Milwaukee tool batteries used in construction ? I leave mine in the garage all winter . I take the big ones inside to charge for the ice auger but I always thought as long as your not charging them your good .

Battleborn’s specified storage temps are -15F – 140F. So they should be pulled.

If you decide not to pull em – make sure they are fully disconnected from any potential ghost drain.

You already know the answer to the pet blanket question.

It might be a pain to take them out and put back in, but it’ll be a bigger pain watching the garage burn down.

I was hoping 10 guys would chime in and say it was no problem, but now I realize a heated blanket is not a smart solution. So, I’ll be pulling the batts this weekend. Thx for the sanity check!

This is one of the reasons I’ve stayed away from lithium for my Reata. It’s out in the cold almost year round and pulling the batteries from the front is an absolute chore.

Matt Moen wrote:

This is one of the reasons I’ve stayed away from lithium for my Reata. It’s out in the cold almost year round and pulling the batteries from the front is an absolute chore.

Yep – I like the way a guy put it once , like a hot babe , very attractive, lots of perks but pretty damn high maintenance too .

Of course it’s “best” to stay in the manufacturer’s recommended range to be safe but I’ve never seen anything that definitively says very cold temperatures are actually a problem for LiFePO4 storage. There is no water in the electrolyte to freeze and most places only talk about the potential of the plastic cracking from the cold which seems unlikely. There is reduced discharge capacity at very low temps but that doesn’t matter for storage. Some companies like Trojan say you can store down to -40, see image attached. Personally, I doubt there is really anything that vastly different from one brand to another and the differences just come from what they have actually tested but in reality the cells are all roughly the same.

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I would forgo the pet blanket but a reptile tank heater may be a better option. They make pad, ceramic, etc. versions.
Another option may be an oil pan heating pad. That coupled with a temp controller would limit the amount of time the heater was on. I would lean toward putting the contoller in the battery compartment with the threshold set around 0F or so.

I plan to take mine out but am considering the heater/controller route.

Is the garage and doors insulated just not heated. I leave my litiums in my unheated garage and have since new this will be year 3 no issue so far. My garage is well insulated and overhead doors are insulated as well i keep a digital thermostat out there that is blue tooth and have never ever seen below -5 out there

^^^Garage is not insulated, though does tend to stay slightly warmer – or I should say less cold – than the outside air temps in winter. If its -20 outside, its probably going to be -10 in the garage.

Reef W wrote:

Some companies like Trojan say you can store down to -40, see image attached.

They make batteries now??

If it’s not insulated I wouldn’t chance it they cost way to much. Do not store at 100 percent charge was the 1 thing I was preached when I bought them

Why do they make those batteries so *%#@! hard to take out?! I have the same problem.

Agree with Reef.
Been using lithium batteries much longer than lithium boat batteries were around. Cold storage is not the issue. You do not want to store them at 100 percent charge. Typically 75-80 percent. You want to charge them when they are warmed up. Storing in cold weather is usually not an issue. Cold usage and charging is. Been doing it several years with other lithium batteries. Some are large. I would not leave a lithium charger attached at all times unless you have good insurance. Any battery is more likely to discharge in warm weather vs cold.

I have AMPED and was told I could leave them in the boat which I did. I’ll let you know in a few months the result, either it worked or I’m buying new batteries again.