The battery should last for about four hours depending upon the temperature. I use a little (very little!) RemOil on the working parts of mine to quiet it down some. It doesn't matter much, I've had coyotes try to eat it, literally. If you call George Brint and explain your battery life problem, I'm betting he'll make you happy. I had one that the switch broke on and he sent me two new Decoy Heart balls as replacements for the one broken one. Nice guy we talked for thirty minutes on the phone.