Batteries in Dry Stored Yacht

[patprice]

Our Bavaria 42 was put in dry storage in Greece in September 2019.

She has relatively new sealed lead acid batteries, 260AH total. These are charged by 2 solar panels that can input about 10A maximum. The regulator is a fairly basic Steca PR1515 regulator. This is a PWM type controller.

Is it safe to leave this setup for a very long period?

[sailorboy1]

Yes ....

[tkeithlu]

Any system that supplies a trickle charge at least occasionally and does not overcharge will keep the batteries happy. Your solar setup will do that.

[gonesail]

depends on your solar panel controller. i left mine over the summer and it boiled and ruined my 2 house batteries. problem is the controller went into bulk charge mode before float mode .. every day. I am not sure if your controller would do that.

[Hoodsail]

Or if you are still on board and batteries are charged, just remove the battery leads until next on board. I do this in New England, USA during the winter with lead acid batteries x 3 and leave them on the boat...two years now w/o adverse effect on batteries...key is fully charged so electrolyte wont freeze....but not certain how cold Greece gets in the winter being on the Med. Also with leads off the battery dont have to wonder about controller or any minor drain..

[SalingSue]

Personally, I’d charge them up and disconnect and remove them.

A AC powered battery tender on a vehicle in a secured to all but you location in one thing, sitting in a yard somewhere like Greece, I’d disconnect

[roverhi]

The solar charge controller malfunctioned when I left my boat for a long period of time. Boiled the water off and left me with 3 bad batteries and need to buy a new controller. If you have an el cheapo controller would make sure it is properly cutting back the charge when the batteries are topped off.

Personally would rather buy a trickle charger if there was access to the electrical grid.

[patprice]

Thanks to all for the above advices.
A bit more information. The yacht is in Greece and I am in Tasmania and cannot travel overseas. My concern is not so much for the batteries but the damage they might do to the yacht through a malfunction of the controller. In retrospect I could have reduced the output of the panels by partial covering and/or partial disconnection.
The chance of the controller malfunctioning and overcharging is small. But not impossible. Other than battery damage, what are the other possibilities? Explosion, fire acid damage?
I could arrange to have the solar panels disconnected and I am sure the batteries would be OK for a few months. But I do not know when I will get back to Greece. April 2021?

[clockwork orange]

As others have said, the safest thing is going to be to have someone disconnect the batteries (ground) and zip tie them back so they cant move. As long as the batteries are fully charged they will have no problem sitting for a while. This is what we do with the several hundred boats we winterize and they sit for 6-7 months without harm. Not sure what to do with the solar panels, unplug them?

[patprice]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

As others have said, the safest thing is going to be to have someone disconnect the batteries (ground) and zip tie them back so they cant move. As long as the batteries are fully charged they will have no problem sitting for a while. This is what we do with the several hundred boats we winterize and they sit for 6-7 months without harm. Not sure what to do with the solar panels, unplug them?

That makes sense. I do have a switch in the regulator to battery circuit. I understand it is OK to leave the panels in open circuit.