Remember when the name Duracell indicated quality and long life? Not anymore. I bought this battery in august of 2019 and the date of manufacture was July of 2019. Installed it in my backup sump with a battery maintainer. Now it is the end of October 2020 and it will no longer hold a charge, not low on charge, just zero electricity. Wrote Duracell and have not heard back from them. I get it was cheap but 15 months with never being used?????

I just don't understand. I purchased 3 of these a few years ago. Luckily I kept the receipts because all 3 failed around 10 months. The replacements failed around 10 months also. So I am on my 3rd set of these. They all didn't fail at the same time. But they were a couple of weeks apart. These are properly maintained used on a boat with onboard charger. I mean I guess I'll keep using them and getting free replacements every 10 months but it is just such a pain. If anything last longer than a year I will be replacing with something different for sure.

I'm on year three with these batteries while running a part of my home electrical system. It is charged by 800 watts of solar panels. I chose these lead acid batteries for specific reasons: 1.) price; 2.) this was the first solar system that I designed, so I expected to have a learning curve; 3.) and, availability. First, let's be realistic; these are lead-acid batteries.If we were to design a lead/zinc battery that could mach the storage and cycles of lithium (or others), the cost would be astronomical. As it is, I calculated that the same storage capacity in lithium would cost five times or more as much as lead. All batteries have a life expectancy, and they all can meet a quick demise through human error. So we have a trade-off. The one-year warranty is a clue. However, the company must account for the people that strait-up ruin batteries. Most manufacturing defects should be found well before a year. And, I've used dozens of these batteries in other applications (cars, trucks, and tractors) and always get four year plus, but they do require maintenance. I have an applied science degree in controls technology. Before you build, design your system. My requirement was a system capable of running a flat screen with DVC (4 hours per day), a laptop (4 hours per day), one small refrigerator, and a microwave oven on high for 10 minutes a day. I got the appliance specs from the labels (the average refrigerator from google). The second specification was that the batteries could run the system for 48 hours from full charge down to no less than 70% with no sun. The last detail was that the maximum instantaneous draw would not exceed the 205 minute rating for the Duracell 31DCX. To match this, I then needed 31DCXs. With lead acid, battery maintenance is critical: Design your system to draw no more than 25 amps (300 Watts) per battery. Build in enough reserve. I have drawn mine below 90 percent no more than three times. A secondary problem is that lead-acid batteries a prone to sulfiding when left uncharged. Reference the following: % charge voltage 100 (full) 12.7 90 12.5 80 12.4 70 12.3 60 12.2 these can run a bit different in practice, mostly due to temperature. Again, many (most?) voltage controllers account for temperature. Some inverters shut down somewhere between 50 and 70 percent. It is best to put all batteries on line at the same time. Fully charge all batteries before hooking them up. Allow them to sit on slow charge for at least a day. Never hook up directly to a solar panel. Panels will put out way too much voltage. Use a voltage controller that has a flooded battery setting and a float setting. Note that these batteries are already filled, contrary to what some may state.Do not fill these to the top. assure the plates are covered. If you need to add to a new battery, do not use water. Use battery acid solution. Use distilled water to refill. With a controller, it is unlikely that you will need to fill often (I have never needed to add to mine). Have a de-sulfiding or battery conditioning charger on hand. Some charge controllers have this function built in. As I rarely run my system down below 90%, I can get by running a de-sulfiding protocol every 2 to 3 months. If you don't, your batteries will first begin charging and discharging quickly lowed by them not taking a full charge. They will appear dead. That being said, lithium batteries are worth considering. You still need to match them to your system. If you mess up, you've lost more money. However, they can also be more forgiving. For example, for the above system I would not run my refrigerator and microwave at the same time because it would be beyond my specifications, potentially reducing the life of the batter. Lithium is more resilient. I calculate that the cost of lead-acid starts to break even with lithium (and others) between 4 and 5 years. The lead option requires a lot more attention, but mine is a hobby.

I replaced a group 24 battery that came with my RV. I had about 2.5 years on it but wanted a larger battery so we could dry camp without running the generator so much. This battery has been working great. I had to get a larger battery box and beef-up the battery holder to accommodate the heavier battery. I wish the battery was fresher, it's already 3 months old but it's all Sams had and I didn't want to wait for new stock. All cells had to be refilled with distilled water, they were low, but not critically. After that, I put it on a charger overnight, leaving the caps loose, and by morning it was at 13.7 volts. Good to go.

These batteries are made with recycled lead, which is not 100% pure, these batteries come 3/4 charged, you first have to charge them to 100% or float them for 24 hrs. Then unscrew the caps, to top battery to the rings, DO NOT USE WATER, these batteries are new, if you add water for the first time you will reduce the charge capacity, the first fill has to be battery acid mix, you can buy this any auto store, buy a container for a motorcycle battery, top off each cell to the ring, now after using battery and cycling charging it, if battery is low on fluid NOW USE ONLY WATER TO FILL THE BATTERY, people all make the same mistake by topping off the new battery with water, by doing that you dilute the acid mix which then shortens the battery life

I purchased 10 of these deep cycle batteries over a period of four years for a solar powered back up system. 2 have failed with F6 and D6 stickers that I assume to mean June 2016 and April 2016, and a third one losing voltage. These both show shorted plates. I have never used the back up system and these batteries stay fully charged and maintained. The ONE YEAR warranty should have been a flag, but the price was good, and the batteries appeared to be quality East Penn. Not sure what went wrong.

BOUGHT BATTERY 6/23/18 FOR REPLACEMENT OF RV BATTERY THAT FAILED WORKED WELL FOR FIRST YEAR . IN BETWEEN USES STAYED ON BATTERY MAINTAINER , NOW DEAD AND WON'T CHARGE . I'LL TRY A DIFFERENT BRAND BATTERY FROM DIFFERENT COMPANY AND SEE IF I HAVE BETTER OUTCOME.

I have 20 of these installed since January 2019 on an off grid cabin. 7 years of constant use later they have lost only 35% of their capacity. I power a 8k BTU AC in the summer just fine. 3.2kw solar charging MAKE SURE YOU TREAT THEM RIGHT BY NOT DISCHARGING BELOW 50% AND KEEP THEM FILLED WITH DISTILLED WATER.

My old batter was on its way out and the Duracell battery perked up my motor above what I expected!

I needed 4 of these batteries for myRV they worked great.