Long term battery charging

I've got my bike socked away for the winter with the battery out and in my
basement.
I've hooked up a 1amp 12v charger on a timer for 15 to 20 min a day.
Would this be too much or too little charge or just enough?
Should I just give it a longer charge once a month or so?
Thanks.

 

Works for me. Now all I have to do is dig the bikes out and get the
batteries in the house. Wasn't supposed to snow this much this soon, sigh.

 

As long as you don't boil it dry, go ahead. I think 1/2 hour every
two weeks would be plenty, though. And believe it or not, the nice
cold garage is a better place for that battery. As long as your
battery is kept charged, it won't freeze, and the rate of self-discharge
is lower at lower temperatures.

 

There isn't really the need to take the battery out; it'll be quite
happy in the cold as long as 1) its water level is correct and 2) it's
kept fully charged all the time.

Likely about right. In the past I've plugged my 1-amp charger into the
garage-door opener light so it gave the battery connected to it a few
minutes of charge each morning and each afternoon; those batteries
seemed to last (I got *13* years out of the battery in my K75 --
unheard of before or since).

No reason you should need to.

Probably the best thing you can do for your battery, though, is buy it
a Battery Tender. It will keep your battery fully charged without
overcharging . . . .

-Don

Pooder Pre-aPproved this Post . . . .

 

The battery will also tend to discharge slower, due to the cold temps. The
cold slows down the chemical reaction...

Les

 

Generally, you can charge batteries for a long time at 1/10 their
rated discharge amp hours without damage. Harbor freight tools sells
floating chargers for $8 (I bought 4), leave my batteries in the bikes
in the shed all winter (-20f periodically) and my batteries last much
longer than they did before the "float" chargers. best $32 I ever
spent.
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