Lifespan of second battery.

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Originally Posted by streaky

Without hi-jacking this thread..... could we say that a proper dual battery management system such as a Pirana DBS180s would benefit both batteries better than just a split charging solenoid?

I would think that a management system would know when the batteries are sufficiently topped up and stop possible over charging. Where-as a solenoid system would keep on going and possible over charge?

I know that the alternators regulator should prevent the amps from getting that far...or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

Thx.

S.

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Hi streaky, stop believing of the hype the manufacturers throw at you.

If split charge solenoids supposedly allow your auxiliary battery to over charge then logic would dictate that there are lots of cooked cranking batteries out there, not so.

Sorry mate, this is nothing more than misleading advertising.

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Originally Posted by crl

My second battery is a deep cycle Exide. (The kind where you have to take the caps off and refill the distilled water periodically.)
It gets fairly regular use and after two years is suddenly not putting out as much power. Is two years a reasonable life span for a second battery or am I asking too much by expecting it to soldier on past the two year mark?

Also a related question, as my battery sits near the turbo should I look at some kind of insulation on the battery to shield it from the heat or is this counter productive as when it gets hot it will stay hot for longer?

And finally, the plug to my fridge has a small green LED that illuminates when the fridge is plugged in, unplugging this when the fridge is not in use is a pain, (requires moving the drawer system) so as a result stays illuminated all the time. Would this small LED being on constantly run the battery down over say a couple of days?

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Hi crl, there are so many different reasons for why your battery might be dyeing but as posted above, if you have a three stage battery charger, give your battery a run on the Equalise or Boost mode,.

You may have some sulfation and this may help remove some or all of it.

Have you ever over discharged the battery at any time, this is a sure fire way to shorten the battery’s life span.

Another NO NO is leaving the battery for long periods of time without charging it.

Are you guilty of any of the above.

It is almost impossible the pre determine the operating life of any type of battery as it actually comes down to owner use and abuse more than anything else.

As to the LED, the current draw from this would take weeks if not months to have any real affect on the battery and if you are driving the vehicle on a regular basis then the LED will have no effect.

Cheers.

Have to say I was guilty of battery abuse.... the first dual battery system I had was just the old solenoid and it was hooked up to a rocker switch (quick onstall for a trip... you know temporary.....)

And there were times it probably went a few weeks partially discharged where my wife (it was her daily driver then) had used the fridge for some shopping and had not switched the rocker switch to recharge it.

so 3 years is pretty good. Better system installed now and works a treat.... well did till now! LOL

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I did let the water level get right down once so that would not have helped it's longevity.

I will give some INOX a go and see if that gives it a new lease on life, if that works maybe I'll have some myself.

Have given it a charge over a couple of nights this week with an El cheapo charger from Super Cheap. If I can get one for a reasonable price I'll get a voltmeter to see how the battery is fairing on a regular basis instead of having it go flat.

crl