We got back from Florida on Friday, the first thing I did was go out to the shop and fire everything up. Thanks to my exhaustive winter prep routine, everything started instantly. Here are the steps I took to ensure worry free fire-up after 6 month storage: 1. Pull car(s), motor scooter, lawn mower, utility tractor, whatever, into the garage. 2. Carefully turn key to "OFF", and exit vehicle. 3. Open hood (or trunk, depending on battery location), and put a Harbor Freight $10 battery tender on, making sure to plug it in and the little red light comes "ON". 4. Shut garage/shop/storage unit door and walk away. (Note that on this roadster with it's original, 1952 fuel pump and carb, I did disconnect the fuel line at the pump, started it and ran it until the carb and fuel lines were empty. ) 5. Come back 6 months later, turn the key to "ON", then fire 'em up. In the case of carbureted vehicles (like my roadster here) who's carbs are empty, the cranking period may be 10 or 15 seconds, and may require some gas dribbled in the carb. I didn't, but I did give it a whiff of ether. Follow these simple steps, and winter storage doesn't have to be complicated or frustrating!
I’d be scared of those HF battery tenders. All it would take is one to short out and there goes everything. I’d just disconnect the batteries and stick them on a real charger when I got ready to get the cars out.
That’s about my storage routine as well Brian, however I skip the battery tender step and my junk still starts in the spring!
All my small engines, like lawn mowers, chain saws, weed wackers, etc I try to run out of gas. Same with the snowblower in the spring. Keeps the carbs from mucking up. And they always start when it's time to use them again.
I didn't have to! They're all still clean! When the doors aren't opened, the dust doesn't fly around I guess...
I have one Exide, and two HF battery tenders. All are almost 20 yrs. old, and still use them every winter on my 3 cars. No problems with any of them, cheap or expensive.
The Jalopy Journal
