My battery on my Texas Hunter wasn't solar charging when I visited the pond this weekend. I tried to charge it with a wall charger and it still wouldn't hold a charge.

It is only 18 months old... Is that typical battery life in the deep south?

Sealed, deep cycle lead/acid batteries need to be "cycled" somewhat regularly to break sulfates off the cell plates. One of the drawbacks to a battery always being topped off on charge due to short run times, is almost as bad as leaving them drained for long periods. It's like Lawn equipment used only about 3 moths in summer, and stored much of the year....it becomes almost a ritual to replace a sulfated battery every spring. Draining to a 10%-30% charge every 6-8 weeks then recharging to full will increase the life about 600%.

Dj If you have a Tractor Supply close to you they carry the battery that you need.

dj, I plan on a replacement battery every year. Running 2 motors is hard on the batteries, and they'll often show fully charged, but can't handle a load.

Anywhere that has deer feeders usually has batteries.

My first one lasted about 6 months.

DJ,
I just replaced the first battery in my TH feeder 2-3 weeks ago. I purchased the feeder new late in the summer of 2015, so I guess I got about 18 months out of it. I thought it should've lasted longer until I saw the "Made in China" sticker on the battery...then, I figured I was lucky to get that. A $20 bill and a trip to Tractor Supply Co took care of that problem. Good Luck.

So Rainman, I should just pull the solar charger off my new TX Hunter battery every two months during the feeding season and let it run down over the next week or so of feeding? I usually try to "condition" new batteries but keep getting told that you don't need to do that anymore. I will give that a try and see how it works. Thanks for the tip. BM61.

I've found that a low battery won't charge up on solar chargers... I have to use a regular charger to top it off. Don't know if that's the norm or what

Thanks, everyone.. I was able to find a similar battery (a tad lower ah) at a local farm store that is the same maker as the one I replaced. So, I guess I can expect another 18 months.

Sounds like I shoulda bought 2 and do something like bassmaster61 plans

I use several batteries with higher ah and swithch them out about once a mth. Use the regular plug in charger to recharge the one removed. I have also put in 2 batteries wired together and never replace them until I turned off the feeder for winter.

Eric,
In your last statement, do you mean that you wire two 12v batts in parallel or 2 6v in series? Assuming its the first option, do you do it to provide more reserve?
Thanks,
Dan

Yes 2 12s for more reserve life.

I got 18 months out of my original battery on my TH feeder with solar and running it 365 days a year. Replacement battery at hardware store was only $17. From what I have read 18-24 months is the norm.

Well, its good to know that 18 months seems to be normal... I'll get another to have as a spare and/or to swap in/out of rotation.
Thanks All

I'm seeing 2-3 years on the ones that I service. There are a few tricks.

1) When the battery is low, the solar charger won't charge it, you have to use a regular battery charger.
2) During the winter, don't unplug the battery from the solar charger, just turn the feed times to "off".

It doesn't seem to matter whether the feeders are in Texas or in Indiana.

Scott, Thanks for the tips!

Not a problem!

My battery read "poor" 2 weeks ago. I had the feeder set on 2 sec feed time at noon. There was a 4x4 post in front of the solar panel, and due to the low sun angle it was casting a shadow on the panel. A chainsaw fixed the problem, and now, 2 weeks later the battery is reading "good". I bumped feed times to 5 sec at 6:30 am, 2 sec at noon and 5 sec at 6:00 pm.

The feeder is to the North of a large Maple Tree, so it is in shade most of the day. Battery is starting it's 3rd year.....