Removing the battery (or not?)

[DaraSue]

So I guess I have no choice but to accept that winter is here, and I see that most people recommend taking the battery out. But I'm having a hard time getting it out, and I notice the list of safety instructions on the side of it specifically says "do not tilt."

It doesn't seem to be horrifically cold in my garage (it's attached to the house and has a room above it), would it be terrible to just leave it in there for a couple months with the covers off of the battery compartment and the fuse box and trickle charge it from the jump posts? I'm afraid I'm going to damage it getting it out and dragging it around...

(It has a cutoff which I've turned off already.)

[opethmike]

Yes, remove it. Batteries outgas, and with it sitting right below the electrical area, I believe that's why so many DeLoreans get such bad fuse box corrosion.

[Elvis]

I've also never taken it out and yes we do know what winter is in Black Forest Germany.

[David T]

For a car in storage IMHO best practice is to remove as much of the fuel as possible and take the battery out. Store the battery on a piece of wood in a warm place and trickle charge it for 1 day once a month. Cover the car and make sure nothing can fall on it. Over-inflate the tires to prevent flat-spotting. Keep insurance on it in case of theft, fire or damage. Treat the leather surfaces with Leatherique Rejuvinator. Clean the car inside and out. Make sure rodents and other critters can't get to the car. If necessary place mothballs under the car NOT inside it. Do NOT park the car on dirt. I also use small wooden blocks to lift the windshield wipers of the glass so the blades don't "take a set". Flush the brakes and clutch. Change the motor oil and test the coolant. In this condition a car can be stored for many years before age/storage related damage appears.

[dmc]

If you use a quality battery tender there is no need to remove the battery.

[DaraSue]

Gave it another shot this morning and finally wrestled it out. Hopefully it's not going to poison us if I leave it on the kitchen counter. (It's several feet from where people normally prepare food and it's in a cardboard box. The counters are laminate.)

Is my battery unnaturally huge or something? It was really awkward getting it out of there.20171217_122810.jpg

There's some corrosion on the negative terminal: 20171217_124123.jpg

And a lot of whitish crud on the floor of the battery compartment. 20171217_123605.jpg Obviously I didn't want to touch it to try to figure out what it was, but could that all be corrosion residue? If not, what else could it be? (Obvious tasteless jokes aside.)

The battery is an Exide 75X "Nascar Extreme" and the date stamp says it was made in Feb 16.

[JETS 81 DMC]

Clean the terminal with an old tooth brush or what ever you can get in there. Use Coca-Cola (Coke) or baking soda mixture with water to clean and
neutralize the corrosion. You can clean the battery compartment the same way.

I would keep the battery in your garage not in your house. Keep it on a good battery maintainer or use your trickle charger once a month. I use the Battery Tender Plus on a couple of my vehicles that are not in my heated garage and have been doing it that way for years.

Hope this helps

[cdrusn]

May be I missed something but why would you trickle charge a battery once a month instead of leaving a battery tender on it so the computer can turn
the charger on when the voltage goes below the set value? Can't we let modern technology do the thinking and working for us?

[JETS 81 DMC]

May be I missed something but why would you trickle charge a battery once a month instead of leaving a battery tender on it so the computer can turn
the charger on when the voltage goes below the set value? Can't we let modern technology do the thinking and working for us?

I meant if you do not have a battery maintainer to leave on all the time then use your trickle charger once a month.

[Bitsyncmaster]

You only need to protect a low charged battery from freezing. With a trickle charger on all the time I don't think you will get much out gassing. So it's up to you if you want to remove it.

The old type trickle charger was just a low current transformer capable of 1 or 2 amps. The newer "tender" chargers set a voltage so as not to do constant "trickle" like the old type.