Battery Life

We purchased an R Pod 171 June of 2014. It had the standard factory battery which is now toast. Doesn't that seem like a ridiculously short life for a battery? It was properly stored and maintained during the winter months.   

X2 regarding Mountainrev.

Something is not right. There is usually a date code sticker on the battery on the top. It may be a warranty issue.

All of the RVs that I have bought in life came with "hybrid" (Marine/RV) type batteries (not true deep cycle) - usually the "Interstate" brand.

I just replaced 2 Marine/RV batteries after five years of use. My research indicated this was the typical lifespan of this type of battery - under normal use.

I leave my batteries on the pod during the camping season and just leave the pod plugged into my 15amp outlet. Is that OK? I will take them out for the winter.

GLBCamper.. If you have the ability to plug in, they will be fine.

It's near impossible to know how batteries have been treated by someone else.

One thing to note.... OK, a couple...

Winter storage is not that much different then summer use for most RV's. Anytime the pod sits, with it's battery hooked up, and not on shore power, 10-14 days, or less, and the battery is drained. Several parasitic loads on at all times, with the only way to stop them being an after market battery disconnect.

Pods don't generally come with true "deep cycle" batteries, they come with "marine/RV" batteries, which are a hybrid and not a true deep cycle.

Also the conventional wisdom is, every time a battery discharges below 50%, which on a 12v battery is 12.06 volts or so, it does much more damage than just dropping to 50%.

The same gurus say any time a battery goes "dead", it "halves" it's remaining life.. So, if you have a "4 year battery", and run it dead a couple times, which many new owners do before sorting out the storage issues of an RV, and boom, you have a 1 year or less battery.

Originally posted by David If memory serves, lead acid batteries self discharge about 10% per month, even with no usage.

The self-discharge rate is 3-5% per month for lead acid batteries.

I like using the Battery Minder #1500 because it's temperature sensitive. This means that it adjusts the float charge's voltage depending on the temperature. When it's warm, the needed voltage drops, and vice versa. The difference between the two is not insignificant.

For instance, I keep my batteries in my garage when we're not out in the Pod. In the winter, when my garage was around 30F, the voltage rose to 13.85. In the summer, when it's 85F, the voltage drops to 13.20. Most battery chargers have their float charge set to assume a temp of 70F. If it's warmer than that, then your batteries are being slightly overcharged, and if it's colder, they're being undercharged.

Reportedly, using a temperature sensitive battery charger/maintainer can extend the life of lead acid batteries (stored outside at least) by 25-50%. That sounds a bit ambitious to me, but if it extends their life by only a year or two, it's a good investment.