Better Feeder Batteries

[ken800]

Not to hijack, but what are you using for timers? I've used the game winner batteries and I'm ok with them as they seem to last 3ish years for me as long as the solar panel doesn't die. That said, I've had two "The Timer"s die completely in the last 4-5 years and have been using the cheap chinese ones on amazon or academy. They last about a year until humidity and dust gum up the buttons and/or the LED takes a dump.

[Smart]

Not to hijack, but what are you using for timers? I've used the game winner batteries and I'm ok with them as they seem to last 3ish years for me as long as the solar panel doesn't die. That said, I've had two "The Timer"s die completely in the last 4-5 years and have been using the cheap chinese ones on amazon or academy. They last about a year until humidity and dust gum up the buttons and/or the LED takes a dump.

Probably need to consider looking at siliconing your box (except the lid of course) they sit in if your timer buttons are getting gummed up by dust. I have The Timers and ASF Timers that are more than 5 years old....some 10+ that are still running like a champ with no issues with dust.

[ACbob]

On my stand and fills I've gone to lawn tractor batteries.

[Dale Moser]

What amp hour rating is typical for a feeder battery, or what is best?

[hog_down]

What amp hour rating is typical for a feeder battery, or what is best?

Great question, I’d also like to know this

[kyle1974]

I buy Dakota Lithium 12v batteries on Amazon for all my deer feeders. Never had one go bad, got some going 7-8 years old.

Is whatever company you work for hiring?

[emoji23]

[cj7zrcool]

What amp hour rating is typical for a feeder battery, or what is best?

Most of mine are 7amp/hour. I do have some smaller ones that are 5amp/hour, all are 12V

[gonehuntin68]

What amp hour rating is typical for a feeder battery, or what is best?

12V 7AH are typical and I would bet 99% of the 12V batteries people have are listed as 7AH.
Now the reason I say "Listed as 7AH" is because in my testing, hardly any are 7AH. This is one of the reasons why so many people have battery issues. If you can help it, never buy a 12V 7AH battery from a store that doesn't sell many because they can be sitting on the shelves for many months if not over a year and you don't want a battery that has been sitting that long without being charged. On top of that, the place the store buys them from have probably had them a while so it's possible for the battery to be over a year old even if the store you bought it from has only had it a few months. Even if the battery isn't 7AH it wont be an issue if your running a solar panel that is working correctly and the battery is holding a charge because the solar panel will keep the battery charged. If your solar panel isn't keeping the battery charged and it's getting good sunlight then you have one of the following issues.
1 - battery is bad
2 - Solar panel is bad
3 - Timer is drawing too much power. This was a common issue with the Remington timers.

You can not test a solar panel by measuring the voltage it puts out because it can put out the correct voltage but not be putting out the amps it should. You have to test the amps and the only way to do that is to have a meter that measures amps and you have to have the battery hooked up to to the solar panel to measure the amps. Most feeder solar panels put out between 70mA and 90mA when full sun is hitting the solar panel.

[texan4ut]

Google Enjoybot Batteries. They have a Lithium battery 12 volts for 35.00 I have two of there big batteries on my solar powered work shop.

[tdwinklr]

no issues yet with my GW battery.

[coker737]

Just What I heard. Most batteries are made by a handful of companies. Maybe 4 or 5. All are alike but just labeled different.

I would doubt it.