Battery blankets/warmers

[Stoo]

So it's April 6, and it's -10°C here, and snowing. And I want to go diving...

Does anyone use battery warming blankets? I tend to leave my RHIB plugged into a trickle charger when it's cold, but I find the the batteries are reluctant to take a full charge when they're cold.

I am pondering wrapping them up in a heated battery blanket for use in the colder months.

Does anyone have experience using these things? Do you find they help?

Thanks!

[Pikey Dave]

Some "smart" chargers e.g. cetek have a cold weather charging mode that ups the charging voltage to compensate for the cold.


Sh1t happens

[mick]

Not -10 but had snow today 🙄 I've known some off road chaps put polystyrene round the batteries in cold climbs

[willk]

Originally Posted by Stoo

but I find the the batteries are reluctant to take a full charge when they're cold.

Hi Stoo - welcome back - I often think of you, stuck in the winter snows with your ethnically complicated missus Stoo

I used to pull the batteries out of the old RIB and trickle charge them in a warmer environment. As Pikey says - moving to Cteks now as they promise a cold maintenance charge. Not sure they work at your ambient winter temps (which you don't mention)

[Stoo]

LOL... Yes, "Ethnically Challenged"... err, "complicated". Poor Missus Stoo had her leg busted this past summer while we were diving in the Gulf if St. Lawrence. The skipper of our RHIB was an incompetent idiot who managed to stuff the boat, sending everyone except us, flying. A big guy took her out like a bowling pin, and landed on her, breaking her leg in four places. Then the skipper managed to swamp the boat and damn near flip it trying to land us on a pebble beach in 4 foot breakers... no point using the large town wharf that was about 200 yards away...

We had words.

But I digress...

I don't use the boat in the winter since our lakes get kinda solid... although we had a milder winter this year. There's still too much snow on ramps, and iced in bays etc. The previous two winters say temps averaging -25°C to -40°C from early December until Late March. We just go to Belize instead. Much simpler.

My charger is a so-called smart charger that is supposed to compensate for temperature and so on but I don't measure output on the thing.

This is what I am talking about if it isn't obvious...

Temro 50W Battery Warmer | Canadian Tire

I may give a couple of them a whirl...

[willk]

Poor Mrs Stoo!

So if I understand this correctly - you want to warm your batteries enough at home (in winter) so you can get a good charge into them before you go diving while it's minus 10C ?

[steco1958]

Originally Posted by Stoo

So it's April 6, and it's -10°C here, and snowing. And I want to go diving...

Thanks!

-10 going diving, been there well not quite only -5, must say never again, not for me, hope you enjoy !!