The truth about battery life?

Very interesting and valid comments. I have not comparing those number for myself, but my brain tells me that it could be very very true that discharge battery deeper means less number of recharge cycles, but more energy pass through.

Cheers
Serg

It's pretty simple Ian. I fit the biggest ah battery we can squeeze into the space. We run the fridge & lights as long as we need them to run & take little notice of the figures as we really don't care what the DOD is as in the field it can't be easily measured anyway. What's imortant is the drinks are cold & we're not sitting in the dark.
Are we fooling ourselves? No. Because according to your figures to get the additional 30% more power you'd lose 30% of the batteries life. (205 cycles V's 300)
Cheers Craig..................

GEE...I dunno...you blokes and your fretting calculations!!!!!.....My last two batteries lasted four years and I traded them in for two new ones...hope to get four years out of them too,,,BUT if I don't, who cares...not me....while you blokes are figuring this and that and getting your nickers in a knot...I'm out there doing it with what I got and having fun...cya.

If for instance you had a battery in a CT and you used it every two weeks, then that would be 25 recharges a year......times 10years = 250 cycles....so in theory it would last 20years......but in reality who keeps their CT for that long and who really cares either ??

Don't let them fall below 11.6V, abuse them a bit , recharge them properly, forget all the technical stuff and enjoy them for years to come..

I concur with most of the above,
Rule 1. Beer must be cold.
Rule 2. Charge when able
Rule 3. See rule 1.
Rule 4. If I have had several years out of an abused battery, and the beer has been cold, well worth the cost. (think about it....when it's 44C, and you are sitting on a beach, watching sun go down, surf rod is twitching, beer is cold, fridge is humming, who cares if you get 2 years or 4 years out of your battery.)

Can't help but wonder if some non-battery owned reputable mob (ie Choice etc) has done the 'compare the battery' exercise?

I am currently trying to insert a battery up the fundamental orifice of a supplier who assured me that the battery he sold me was 'heavy duty' and 'much bigger than I really needed' and 'would last for years' This is after only 5 months.

I won't name the battery manufacturer for fear of starting a war of biblical proportions because I am sure that my problem is a dodgy unit/supplier rather than dodgy battery company

Does anyone know of such a comparison guide that is completley independent of battery shop charlatans?

Craig

Google Peukert... there are plenty of non-linear effects involved here and your calculations are pretty simplistic.

That said, your conclusion is probably not far from reality.

The makers know empirically. The makers make rule of thumb recommendations that are not directly related to their empirical findings for that particular battery - just general "good practice".

In practice you have your battery for a job.
You make compromises about space, capacity, etc., in selecting your battery.
Your travelling and camping (or whatever) conditions, don't always match the ideal.

The retailer has no way of knowing the detail of this - before, or after.
The warranties they put on them are just what they can get away with assuming that most consumers will use them in certain ways. Consequently you can take a battery back to them, and they will probably replace it within warranty because they can't prove abuse. I am happy to live with this.

I am a battery abuser. Perhaps it could be argued I am a battery retailer abuser but because they constantly recommend their products as good for what I do, I have no hesitation in using their warranties to the full extent.

Cheers
Andrew taking back a Calcium-Calcium battery today.

I have long held the view that you need to buy this type of product from a company that will provide GOOD service. You need to be able to get a 'no questions' replacement if you have problems during the expected service life. I find that it's better to buy a median value product and expect to throw it away say - every three years rather then pay heaps of dollars and shed tears when your super-dooper 'long-life' brand does not last any longer then the cheaper product.

If a battery doesn't have at least a 2 year Aust-wide replacement warranty, then the manufacturer doesn't believe in their own product. That will pretty much limit your choice to brand-name wet cell cranking batteries.