Battery failure

I just had to replace the battery after a little more than one year of use. We use a Dometic fridge and it has run down to the shutoff point several times but it sure doesn't seem like it should be enough to ruin the battery. When it was replaced it would only run the fridge for a couple hours before the voltage went too low. No problem with the fridge as I just ran it for 3 days on another battery with no problem.

Have any others had to replace their battery after a similarly short period?

 

I am not sure if this relevant to your battery, but the one factor that has a huge impact on battery life is the depth of discharge or DOD. This is a quote from some site that summaries the affect:

"Battery life is directly related to how deep the battery is cycled each time. If a battery is discharged to 50% every day, it will last about twice as long as if it is cycled to 80% DOD. If cycled only 10% DOD, it will last about 5 times as long as one cycled to 50%." A single complete discharge can damage the battery and of course affect battery life.

There are graphs that show this better, I just could not find one. In any event the basic idea is that the deeper you discharge the shorter the life of the battery. For extreme cases the difference in life span is almost 10:1.

High temperature also has a negative effect on battery life. Finally, if your battery is always kept fully charged, using a trickle charger if possible, it will last longer than if the battery is allowed to slowly discharge.

If your battery is not subject to any of these conditions, then you might have a claim with the battery manufacturer if still under warranty.