Cold Weather Battery Charging! Don't Get Stuck in the Snow!

When I hear that southern Idaho maybe getting snow and we haven't even finished Octoberfest yet, well, I guess this is a reminder of why I pay through the nose to live in southern California!!! We are still wearing flip flops and turning on the air conditioning!! But, come to think of it, I could be rich and just buy a snow mobile and chains and live above the 38th parallel of North America or remain in the sinking, overtaxed middleclass of southern Californian home owners...hmmm???? That's a consideration for another day. But speaking of snow, and cold weather, and since we are battery guys, it sounds like it must be time to remind everyone about charging batteries in cold weather. This raises a good question which is how do we charge batteries in cold weather? One of the most horrific killers of batteries is dramatic temperature change or even freezing cold temperatures! What a lot of people who live off-grid or who boondock (Dry-camp) Full-time often forget, is when it gets cold, you MUST increase the charge voltage to compensate for cold weather! We get lots of calls during the winter months from consumers who want to buy new batteries, when the fact is, their batteries are nearly fully-functional... They're just undercharged! Repeated under-charging can lead to poor battery performance; leading to sulfation; leading to internal resistance; leading to your batteries' premature downfall! Oh by the way.. UNDERCHARGING is not covered under battery defect warranties! So, how do you compensate your charging for colder temperatures? I'm glad you asked! Take a look. So, save yourself some time and hassle -- as well as a few cold nights -- and trust this handy chart as a guideline for charging your batteries this winter.