Okay guys and gals, I have two 31 series deep cycle batteries purchased at Academy and have had them for approximately a year and a half. I use a Dual Pro Charger at 10x2. These batteries haven't worked really well since about February of this year. Just after the 1 year was up !!! They charge to full capacity but if I take the charger off for approximately 10 minutes and plug it back in, it takes approximately 30-40 minutes for them to completely charge again. I keep them full of water and have a battery minder desulfator I swap between the two. I think this is premature failure. IS THERE A WAY TO LOAD CHARGE A DEEP CYCLE BATTERY or would you do it the same way you would do a car battery? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Mike

What do you mean by load charge? You can load test with a load tester.

Get you one of these:  http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/1EFX6?Pid=search  Best thing made for testing a battery that has caps on it so you can get to the electrolite. 

Charge the battery, let it sit 24 hours and test it.  All cells should be even.  Depending on the battery you should get a reading of 1.260 to 1.300.  Most good deep cycle batteries will give you a reading of 1.275 or better.

Sorry about that Team_Dougherty. I have diarrhea of the fingers and constipation of the brain. You're right, I meant load test ... Cool, I'll run down to the local shop and borrow their tester and check. Also Way2slow, thanks for the hydrometer tip. I honestly didn't think of testing that way. Getting old is a bear !!! It just bothers me that I buy batteries and try my best to treat them right and they last a year. Just don't seem right. They're Stowaway Tournament series bought at Academy. I would assume they should be decent batteries. Thanks guys ...