Feeder batteries, anybody ever?

[DaveC]

A few quick things. If you don't have a solar panel charging the battery and let the feeder run it to nothing... any battery is gonna have a short life. Second if you have a solar on it, especially 12v, you'll get MUCH longer life with a charge controller depending on the size of the panel. A decent sized 12v solar panel will cook a battery in TX summer depending on sun exposure.

Can you expand on the solar charger controller? This is new to me and might explain my battery woes

[Loneaggie]

Can you expand on the solar charger controller? This is new to me and might explain my battery woes

Solar panels don't output 12V in direct sun they can output 21V, as the size goes up... the amps go up as well. 21V at more than a trivial amount of amps will cook a 12v battery. A cheap charge controller regulates the voltage coming from the panel to a "safe" charging voltage, for example 14v. This prevents overcharging and cooking the battery. Even the cheap controllers will actually do maintenance intervals on the battery also. You can get one for < $20 on amazon. For small solar panels its usually not an issue, but if its over a couple of watts... flirting with bbq in Texas summer sun. Feeder timers don't drain batteries very fast, so usually even with a 1 or 2 watt panel, they are topped back off in an hour or two come daylight... the rest is just cooking the battery. I have some batteries that have been running in feeders with 10W panels (wifi timers) for a couple of years with no issue, but those timers have integrated charge controllers

[DaveC]

Solar panels don't output 12V in direct sun they can output 21V, as the size goes up... the amps go up as well. 21V at more than a trivial amount of amps will cook a 12v battery. A cheap charge controller regulates the voltage coming from the panel to a "safe" charging voltage, for example 14v. This prevents overcharging and cooking the battery. Even the cheap controllers will actually do maintenance intervals on the battery also. You can get one for < $20 on amazon. For small solar panels its usually not an issue, but if its over a couple of watts... flirting with bbq in Texas summer sun. Feeder timers don't drain batteries very fast, so usually even with a 1 or 2 watt panel, they are topped back off in an hour or two come daylight... the rest is just cooking the battery. I have some batteries that have been running in feeders with 10W panels (wifi timers) for a couple of years with no issue, but those timers have integrated charge controllers

Thanks for the info, my feeders definitely sit in the full south-westish tx sun so this will probably explain my feeder battery woes.
(I've gone to just swapping out with recharged back-ups the pulled every time I fill the feeder, but these controllers might cure that).

I've got 2 sub $20 models coming (2 different brands to hedge my bets and go forward from there- 2 different feeders at one stand) from Amazon and will put them out next time I go to the lease.