in your opinion how long should a deep cycle battery last when proper care is taken? thanks byron

well a lot of the top brand batteries carry a seven year warranty, first 24 months full replacement the next 60 is prorated,so i would say atleast 7 years,but it don't never work that way for me,i must be hard on mine.my brother has a set of surrette batteries in his boat going on 11 years, he plugs them up as soon as he gets out of the truck from fishing

I know that I am starting a BIG argument.......but for the last 8 years I have used Wal Mart batteries; only replaced one battery in all that time. However I troll a lot or slab and dont use the trolling motor much............I like them because they are CHEAP, seem to last a long time, and if they go out I can get a replacement on Sunday(or anytime!).

You CAN buy 3 of them for the price of 1 high dollar "gel" cell battery.

i don't think there is a thing wrong with wally-world batteries if thats what works,i would be using there batteries too if i didn't get mine tru work,

The biggest killer of lead acid batteries comes from not quickly recharging them after a discharge.

Heat, from discharging, can shorten the life of the battery also. Using 2 batteries connected in parallel will split the current being pulled from each battery. Less current equals less heat.

Use a good 3-stage charger for Lead Acid.

I used to have a Guest 2x5 (10 amp) onboard charger and I just had to have 2 Interstate Deep Cycle batteries (one year old) replaced under warranty. Fluid was always kept full. I always plug in the charger after use.
I have since gone to a Dual Pro 2x15 amp charger in hopes that it will extend battery life. I admit that I use my trolling motor more than most. I fish about 3 days a week and I have never had batteries last more than 2 years.

From what I remember, most deep cycle batteries only have a one year warranty - the Trojan has a 2 year.

Like BigDad, I use my trolling motor a lot and my current Trojan batts have 221 fishing trips on them in almost exactly three years of use. I also hook up the on board charger as soon as I get home to get them recharged.

How long will they last...don't know yet...

major factors contributing to the life of a battery:
1. how the battery is used
2. how well the battery is maintained
3. proper charging
4. environmen of the battery
5. and most importantly, quality of the battery

personally, Exide Optima gels, 3.5 years and never a problem

jtexas, great website!!!!! thanks byron

After trial and error and getting pi@#$ed at frequently having to replace batteries before their time that a charge or two over winter and pulling them indoors or into a garage makes a big difference. Just my 2 cents