Yet another battery question

[Anne H]

Well, I fried my battery - at least, it's not holding a charge and when I look inside, there is no water to be seen (from the outside there may be some near the bottom third of the battery).
I'm assuming that this happened because I kept it on the trailer and plugged to AC all winter so I could have a heater on inside during our long really cold spell. (Long story) and never checked the battery water levels. And it is 5 years old.

So . . .
Does anyone have any advice on buying a new one? Just a quality deep cycle battery with about the same specs? Costco? RV place?

How about over-wintering? When I mend my ways, and disconnect the battery for the winter, I assume that I should bring it into the garage or the basement? And how should I keep it charged over the winter - do folks get a separate battery charger? A full charger like AAA uses? or a trickle charger? Seems like a lot of work to hook it back up to the trailer to charge.

Anyway, I'm clueless in Portland

Anne H

[gbaglo]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Five years out of that battery is probably pretty good. I kept Toad plugged in all winter for the same reasons. Next winter though, I plan to check the fluid levels in the battery regularly. Mine was a bit low. If you do store the battery inside over winter, DO NOT leave it on a concrete floor. Have a piece of plywood under it or otherwise elevate it. The same goes for chain saws or anything else like that that you don't want to prematurely rot. I gather electrolysis sets in and eats away at motors, the housing, etc.

baglo

[JeffZ]

I hate to say this... but.. I'm a hugh Costco fan..they always have the best price..

[GaryH]

I bring my battery into the shop for the winter. Every month or so, i put it on a 2Amp trickle charge, overnight. This keeps the levels up & helps to prevent it from freezing (unheated shop). If you need a heater in the trailer, just plug it in directly via an extension cord to your 110V house plug.