How do you know when your trolling battery gives up its ghost?

[MRJ]

I like the MinnKota battery meter that shows you in an instant how much capacity you have left. Some of their motors have one built in. I have one and it is great. As far as testing trolling motor batteries, the load test they do at Autozone or Checker is designed for starting batteries and not deep cycle batteries. Once I had Checker test both high end deep cycle batteries in my boat, one for starting and one for the bow trolling motor, and they said they were both performing poorly. That was several years ago and they both are still running strong. Deep cycle batteries, if that is what you have, just don't test right at the autostores. I have heard there is a different test/equipment for deep cycle batteries, but know nothing else about them. I rely on all the good maintenance tips mentioned above and use my multi-meter to check the voltage.
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