Seems I have lost another set of starter batteries. I have been buying them at a local wholesaler and they come with a year warranty but they are dead after 2 years.
Would like to hear what others are getting out of a set and if you have been doing better than 2 years what brand battery have you been using?
You should be doing way better than two years. I think I sold my U320 with perfectly good start batteries around the 7 year old mark. I've heard of guys going well past 10. Are you frequently draining yours below 50% state of charge?
Not intentionally.
8-10 years using three carefully managed Optima Red Tops, starting without boost solenoid.
Battery life is absolutely related to their "care and feeding" (depth of discharge, recharging, no "resting at totally dead") as well as battery quality.
As our coach doesn't have solar nor electricity where we store it. I simply remove the battery cables on both chassis & house batteries. It's those phantom draws during un-powered storage or storing with drained batteries that will pull them down and kill them far quicker than you might think.
I have found that it literally takes just a few minutes to pull the cable and also allows me a chance to have a quick look around that area. however, we use our coach every month of the year and is never in storage more than 3 weeks.
For start batteries, I use 3 odyssey extremes. For the house batteries, I use 3 O'reilly's.
[unnecessary comment deleted - moderator Michelle] I found that the best way to ensure the best possible battery life was the continuously supply temperature compensated voltage to all the batteries.
It's not the brand as much as running any battery bank down that was not designed for such a use.
I installed an elaborate(for me) complete solar powered auto connect charging system to prevent discharges.
Car batteries are not designed for basically any discharges. Heavy amps to start. Then maintain voltage.
The OP specifically mentioned start batteries, not house batteries. Various people have told me over the years that batteries will last anywhere from a few days past the warranty time to double the warranty time. I can remember when you could buy a battery with a 24 month warranty, a 36 month warranty, a 48 month warranty, a 60 month warranty and even a few with 72 month warranties. The longer warranty times are gone, and only very short warranties remain. No idea why.
My experience was that the three start batteries in the coach when we bought it in 2013 lasted until 2022, when I replaced them. We sold the coach in 2023, and as far as I know, those batteries are still working.
During the time that the coach was parked in the storage lot I did disconnect all batteries, both start and house, since there was no power to the coach (no solar or electricity). Otherwise, while we were using the coach, I had a Trik-L-Charge that kept the start batteries charged while we were parked and plugged in.
Thanks for pointing that out David. I'll edit the topic title and move the house battery posts to a different thread to keep this one on-topic.