Deep Cycle Battery Life,,,,,?

[Quinny69]

How long should a well maintained Deep Cycle battery last? My Delkor 115amp seems to have given up. It has a little Hydrometer on it that is GREEN for charged and ready,BLACK for recharge (get back to the ramp), and WHITE/CLEAR for dead, replace. Its in the later, but starts turning green when its on the charger, but fades away when not on charge. Its just on 3yrs old and has been used to power a small MinnKota and Sounder, It gets run flat but I always charge it up straight away. Is 3yrs about normal? $pewin, Matt Q

[peterbo3]

Q69,
My Delkor 70 AH started playing up & losing charge shortly after I fitted it. Always on charger between trips. Back to agent-no probs with bty mate, your charger is not big enough. Crap.Charger is 3.5 amp with float charge that kicks in when bty is charged. Multimeter reading 13.8V. Still playing up. VHF would show "low BTY" on transmit which is only 6 amp draw on high power. Indicator window bright green.
This bty only ran sounder, radio,nav lights, etc. Back to Glascraft. Please get agent to check bty UNDER LOAD. Bty found to be Stuffed. Less than one year old. New bty under warranty two weeks later. Will not be buying a Delkor again.

[beatle]

Been running an el cheapo 80amp hr. deep cycle for three years now on my Minn Kota electric, charge it up every month or so or after I've used it and still going stong .I think I only paid a little over $100 for it from a big battery outlet.- beatle [smiley=beatnik.gif]

[Kerry]

Pete, I've got some DelKor's on remote weather stations and considering they are on charge whenever the sun shines and under load all the time I basically only replace them based on time, last one 2 years and basically just for the sake of it as I'd rather replace them just for the sake of it than having to replace them when I really don't want to.

I would guess that any battery that is consistently under load and always on charge will outlast one that is used now and again and always kept on charge in between times. One of those use it or loose it issues.

One thing with batteries (any battery) is the amount of time they sit around before somebody actually buys them but all batteries have the manufacturer date stamped on them (if one knows how to read it) and if any have been sitting around for a time then I wouldn't touch them either.

Cheers, Kerry.

[davo]

People talk about batteries but not chargers. I'm speaking from a techical point of view that selecting the right charger is a big step. I've had wet deep cycle batteries and now run two 80amp/hr gel's on my bow mount but the charger I have is the Baintech 15amp unit. They are programable to suit the different styles of batteries e.g. Gel, Lead Calcuim, Wet Lead Acid. It actually charges at 15amps on the boost sequence of the charge not like the normal transformer type.
Lead Calcium batteries are about 14.7V charging while gel about 13.8V and wet about 14.4V as well the rate of charge expecially for the sealed of semi sealed units is more critical this is where the problems start. My first electric motors were charged from a standard Allec charger and the batteries didn't last as well. Have a good look around at chargers first before buying a battery.

[diver]

I did read that the ability of a deep cycle battery to stand deep discharge over a conventional battery is only elementary as the battery is not that hardy and that marine batteries were better for applications such as boats and 4x4 car fridges.Hope this is of some help

[DRJ]

Mine is nearly 3 years old and has just died - so off to spend more money.

Darren

[1337]

Hey DJR,
What brand of deep cycle battery have you been running for nearly 3 yrs mate?

And Kerry regarding your post:
What is an acceptable "sitting on the shelve time" which would warrant safe buying... One year max shelf time ??? Or more ???