Greetings From the Beaver State/Help w/Winterizing

[bschnebr]

Good day to everyone ! I'm a rookie Airstream owner, approaching retirement in June '07. Last February my wife and I purchased a brand new 25' Airsream Safari FB SE. We are enjoying practicing retirement with our new trailer and tow vehicle. ('06 Chev Silverado LT 6.0L 4dr short box w/Leer canopy)
We are brand new to the experience of owning a trailer and truck.
During the winter months is it necessary to remove the deep cell batteries and put them on a trickle type charger?
Thanks for the help and I look forward to many rewarding years participating in Airstream Forums and especially Airstreaming.
Happy Holidays!

[Condoluminum]

Welcome, and it sounds like a good plan for retirement...

As for batteries, decision to remove depends on your access to trailer and climate.. If it is really cold (below freezing regularly) and trailer will be left unattended for weeks at a time (like in storage..) then I'd remove batteries, keep warm and put on intelligent charger...

If temps not so cold, and trailer alongside house, equally effective solution is to plug trailer in for a couple days every other week or so, assuming none of the appliances or other internal loads are connected...

The two things best avoided are really cold temps for battery, and lengthy solitude, during which the battery can discharge to 25% or less of rated capacity.. Those will put battery at risk for shorter lifespan. Depending on model of charger in trailer, leaving it plugged in all the time might be waste of energy and overcharge battery, risking venting of acid and dry cells, which are also deadly..

Try using search tab above for "battery" and "maintenance" and "charging" and see what others have said...

[rickandsandi]

Greetings and welcome to the forum- Batteries in your part of the woods I would imagine must be removed. Your idea of putting them on a trickle charger is correct. There is a great article in this quaters Airstream Life Magazine all about batteries. Also, don't forget to winterize your pipes!

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. I also suggest removing the batteries if your climate is usually below freezing, and the Safari is going to sit unattended for awhile.

Even here in I remove the batteries and put them on a trickle charge if our girl is not going to be used for thirty or more days.

[alan]

As a rule of thumb, standard lead-acid batteries discharge at about 1% per day in storage. Three months in storage and they are nearly dead. I recommend removing the batteries and connecting them to a simple maintenance charger (such as the Battery Minder Plus from Camping World). Proper off-season maintenance will greatly improve both the performance and longevity of your batteries.

Don't neglect your water system. Drain and blowout the fresh water plumbing and add RV antifreeze to your drain traps.