Conference unifix::sailing

    If the boat is home, why don't you take the batteries out and store
    in your basement (but not on the cement floor)?
    
    This keeps the batteries warmer and with a periodic charge, they
    will remain in much better shape.
    
    Paul

    I have had some problems with the RayJeff 15.  It has been back
    to the factory twice after having "cooked" three batteries on bank
    two.  They assure me it is fine, but to be on the safe side, I have
    a timer that only turns it on about an hour a day.
    
    

    Why not leave batteries on a cement floor?  Is there a potential for
    the batteries to eat away at the cement?  

    re 3.
    
    Due to the temperature and dampness, batteries deteriot rapidly
    when stored on cement floors.
    
    paul

    The major reason I leave the batteries aboard is simply the weight of
    these batteries.  Carrying them down a ladder makes you pray the ladder
    rungs have another season on them!!  I suggest bringing them up to full
    charge, and then checking about every month or so.  If the batteries
    are in good condtion, they will hold charghe over the Winter.  But,
    since the a discharged battery acid's specific gravity approaches that
    of fresh water, which would freeze, you should check them at least
    often enough to track their rate of charge.  Generally, it is not 
    recommended that batteries be left on trickle (slow) charge for long
    periods.  I have left mine aboard (at home) for the last eight seasons.
    

    We removed our batteries and took them home with us, the yard said they
    would store them for the winter at $25 per.  I don't know if that
    included removal or not but $125 for battery storage is more than we
    paid for the dinghy storage this summer.  At any rate, I found a neat
    way to remove batteries from the boat to ground level without having 
    to hassle with taking them down the ladder.  
    
    We have two types on board, all 6 volt.  One of the pairs has holes
    drilled in the posts large enough to fit a 1/4" line through.  I
    slipped a line through one of the batteries posts and tied it to itself
    and made a carrying handle to get them out of the box.  I found that if
    I tied another line to this "handle" I could lower the batteries over
    the side to my partner who sent the lines back up to me where I
    repeated the process.  
    
    For the batteries without holes in the posts, I made a four way sling. 
    In each of two lengths of line I tied bowlines in both ends.  One
    length of line was slightly longer then the other.  I then slipped
    the "sling" under the battery with the longer line laying parallel to
    the length of the battery.  Bringing all of the bowlines up over the
    top of the battery allowed me to slip a line through all of the eyes. 
    I doubled the line up and slipped the rig over the side to my partner
    waiting below who sent the whole thing back up again.  This worked out
    real well and we didn't have to hassle with an unsafe process of 
    carrying batteries down the ladder.  I have a crude sketch below. 
    				 	       
    				       +++
                                       + + <----eye	
    				       +++	
                                        |
    					| 
                                        |
                                        |
                    +++                 |                +++
                    + +-----------------+----------------+ + <--eye
                    +++                 | \              +++
                                        |  \____knot to tie lines together
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                       +++
                                       + +
                                       +++
    
    Brian

re .6:

I have been told that it is inadvisable to carry large, heavy batteries by 
their connecting posts. Apparently the stress is enough to break or damage the
internal connections from the posts to the battery plates. Given the price of
good deep-cycle batteries ..... 

re .whichever:

If your boat is at home, you might want to consider building a set of stairs 
for climbing on and off the boat. These can either rest against the boat or be 
attached to a platform supported by 4x4s. Stairs are much, much safer than a 
ladder as well as much more convenient. We built ours several years ago. Well
worth the time, effort, and expense. 

re .6	Omigosh !  a fer-real sailor who can actually tie  *_USEFUL_*  
knots for an application  (-:,  (-:   Can you tie a bosun's chair 
outta rope ?

re .7
> I have been told that it is inadvisable to carry large, heavy batteries by 
> their connecting posts. Apparently the stress is enough to break or damage the
> internal connections from the posts to the battery plates. Given the price of
> good deep-cycle batteries ..... 

	Given the scenario that was described in .6 I'd be a lot more 
worried about the helper below than the replacement price of deep 
cycle batteries.  The sling approach sounds sound.

	Reg	{stink-potter (small, trailerable) without most of 
			these worries}

    I thought about the potential of damaging the batteries by lifting them
    by the posts but I remembered seeing a strap like device somewhere that
    is used for the same way for auto batteries.  In retrospect, I would
    probably opt for the sling for all cases.  I like the idea of a set of
    stairs,  this would certainly inject a measure of safety a ladder
    cannot.  I think we will be building a more stable ladder come spring
    time.  The one we were using in the yard certainly didn't instill any
    confidence.  And yes I can tie a bosun's chair from rope but I learned
    this in the Ski Patrol so it probably doesn't really count :-).  
    
    Brian

    Yes Al, the stairs are great, but I can do two years of maintenance
    work
    on the boat in the time it takes to make the stairs, and then I would
    have to find some place to hide them all Summer. Also, I would be a
    little nervous leaving the stairs outside the house while "away on the
    high seas".  Our town has enough break-ins already!  The ladder, we
    toss in the locked garage.

re .10:

Golly gee whiz, I should have so little maintenance work to do on our boat!
I built our stairs, including the 10' high platform they're attached to,
in less than two days. The platform and stairs are so heavy we simply leave 
them standing in the yard during the summer -- our cat likes to sleep on 
the platform. 

The construction time and expense notwithstanding, stairs are so much safer 
than a ladder that I will never again use a ladder unless I absolutely have 
to. I've broken two bones (in non-boating accidents) and have absolutely no 
desire to do myself further damage. 

    
    re: battery sling
    
        why not build a sling that goes around the outside of the battery
        (and underneath) rather than connecting to the posts?  A velcro
        strap could keep the load-carrying straps snug against the battery
        to prevent slippage.
    
    /Jim
    

    Another battery question...

    I just finished charging my batteries in my cellar.  Out of four
    batteries, I was able to get a specific gravity reading of very close
    to 13.0 on all cells except one which refuses to charge to any level
    above 12.75.  What does this mean?

    

re .13:

It means your hydrometer has a problem. The specific gravity should be 
between 1.000 (utterly, totally discharged) and 1.300 or so (fully charged). 

Seriously ..... if the specific gravity of one cell is significantly lower 
than the other cells, the battery should be replaced. A lead-acid battery 
is made of several cells in series (each cell has a fully-charged voltage 
of a bit more than 2 volts). The cell with the low specific gravity will 
discharge completely long before the other cells do. When this happens the 
battery voltage will drop by 2 volts and the battery won't supply much 
current. 

There is always some variation in specific gravity between cells -- .025 
isn't cause for alarm. Just keep checking once in a while. If the 
difference begins to increase, you should begin to worry. Until then, go 
sailing.

The early death of one cell seems to be a very, very common failure. Almost 
all of the many dead batteries stacked behind my garage died this way. The 
variation you see may also be due to unequal filling of the cells (I assume 
you've checked this). It may also take quite some time (days) for the water 
added to a cell to fully mix with the acid. When one cell is consistently 
more than .050 lower than the others you should begin to be concerned.