[vsrivatsa]

Purchased a pair of Exide InvaGold Short Tubular 150AH - IGST 1500 today. The price on BatteryBhai was ₹10,599/- per battery with exchange (Link), I sourced it at ₹8,750/- per battery post exchange for the existing 180 aH Battery from TurboTubular thru my regular contact in Bangalore.

The date on the Battery was marked Nov 2020. The Battery was home delivered within 1 hour of my phone call and they accepted payment via Google Pay. Hoping this one lasts long as well like the one it replaced (7.5 years)

[motorsan]

My Lumnious Zelio+ inverter stopped working after 5+ years. Called up a local generic dealer who suggested replacement, and per his advice went ahead with Microtek Merlyn 1050.

Unfortunately, it feels like a downgrade:

1. Output power in Microtek is 725W compared to 756W for Luminous. (Both rated 900VA).
2. With Microtek, the TV restarts when power goes off, which means the inverter switch-over time is longer in Microtek compared to Luminous.
3. In case of overload cut off, Luminous used to recover automatically after 30 seconds. But for Microtek, one needs to manually restart it. A tedious job when the inverter is kept in a hard to reach spot.

The local dealer was of the opinion that Luminous quality had deteriorated of late and Microtek was the safe choice. No idea if there was any truth in that or if he was pulling a fast one on me.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by motorsan

The local dealer was of the opinion that Luminous quality had deteriorated of late and Microtek was the safe choice. No idea if there was any truth in that or if he was pulling a fast one on me.

We've had our Luminous unit for just over five years too. I hope that is not going to be its life expectation!

We got off to a rough start with our Zelious. I think we had two component burnouts, and probably most of its circuitry had been replaced by the end of the engineer's second visit. The service was good --- but should not have been needed for a new unit.

[PetrolRider]

Sorry for a silly question here, I have heard, moving inverter batteries are not safe and a fire hazard.
I have to move to a different house in a month or so. What should be my option here? How can I safely move the inverter battery without involving local fire department?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

I have to move to a different house in a month or so. What should be my option here? How can I safely move the inverter battery without involving local fire department?

Your car has Lead Acid batteries too and it is going hundreds of km in a day. Moving inverter batteries is no big deal and should not involve fire department or Hazmat procedures. Just make sure that the Inverter is disconnected from the batteries after removing the mains supply. Isolate the terminals so that no metal object will short them out.
Make sure that the batteries are transported the right way up.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Your car has Lead Acid batteries

Absolutely. How can anyone think that it is dangerous to move them? Trucks full of those batteries must be delivering to dealers!

Our car batteries are well secured in an upright position. Make sure the battery is packed so it cannot fall. Make sure the outside is clean and not acid-damp. Maybe wipe down with sodium bicarbonate solution.

I have moved house with bottles of concentrated acid. That could have done a great deal of damage if it leaked: they were well packed. Dangerous stuff: working with sulphuric acid resulted in many small holes in my workshop clothes. It "burns" stuff as in corrosion --- but I don't think it burns stuff as in flame. If so, it was a risk I was unaware of at the time

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Your car has Lead Acid batteries too and it is going hundreds of km in a day. Moving inverter batteries is no big deal and should not involve fire department or Hazmat procedures. Just make sure that the Inverter is disconnected from the batteries after removing the mains supply. Isolate the terminals so that no metal object will short them out.
Make sure that the batteries are transported the right way up.

Sorry for not being specific in my earlier post.

As far as I remember, the battery shopkeeper guy has mentioned that the acid tubes are not sealed and are not the "auto battery type" and needs to be specially packed for transportation to avoid fire and other hazard involving "spillage" of the battery acids. Mine is a regular type inverter battery from luminous which need watering (correct term?) once a year.
I am not qualified at all on this subject to validate his logic on the matter. But certainly, his words put me in paranoia and of-course inverter battery does not exactly look like a car battery though.

So, are you sure, it would not cause any issues?

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Sorry for not being specific in my earlier post.

As far as I remember, the battery shopkeeper guy has mentioned that the acid tubes are not sealed and are not the "auto battery type" and needs to be specially packed for transportation to avoid fire and other hazard involving "spillage" of the battery acids. Mine is a regular type inverter battery from luminous which need watering (correct term?) once a year.
I am not qualified at all on this subject to validate his logic on the matter. But certainly, his words put me in paranoia and of-course inverter battery does not exactly look like a car battery though.

So, are you sure, it would not cause any issues?

Now you are making us paranoid too.

Is the person who sold you the battery trying to sell you a trolley or something?. To the best of my knowledge, inverter and automotive batteries are basically lead acid batteries. True, there are internal structural differences. Most inverter batteries carry the electrolyte indicator level which is a glass gauge while automotive does not. The way they discharge current is also different but i don't see why there should be any fire hazard while transport. Probably i am missing something that the shopkeeper knows or experienced. Is it some place very far that you are trying to send the battery to?.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

As far as I remember, the battery shopkeeper guy has mentioned that the acid tubes are not sealed and are not the "auto battery type" and needs to be specially packed for transportation to avoid fire and other hazard ...

So, are you sure, it would not cause any issues?

Absolutely. Our offices have high power (>3-5 KVA) Online UPS which require periodic replacement of batteries. We buy them from the stores and transport them in our cars. No special drill except to have the manpower to lift the batteries. All these Lead Acid batteries need periodic addition of distilled water just like our car batteries.
Observe the precaution outlined by Thad sir and Srini Sir.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

We've had our Luminous unit for just over five years too. I hope that is not going to be its life expectation!

We got off to a rough start with our Zelious. I think we had two component burnouts, and probably most of its circuitry had been replaced by the end of the engineer's second visit. The service was good --- but should not have been needed for a new unit.

I am using a Luminous Zelios unit I bought during mid 2014. Still working with the same Luminous tubular battery it came with. It has been a fit and forget experience, except for topping up distilled water every four months. But I have a hunch that I may have to buy a new battery in the not too distant future.

[Lone Ranger]

Hi everyone,
For some unfathomable reason, I was under the impression that my inverter batteries were 'maintenance free'
Bottom line, the exide IT500 (tall tubular) batteries have not been topped up with distilled water since their purchase (march 2018). The system has been working fine till date. We have frequent (at least once a week, but very brief outages). I have bought a bottle of distilled water, but just wanted to check with the experts on this thread whether there are any extra precautions (apart from switching off the ups and disconnecting the terminals before filling) I should take on account of my negligence. The level indicators on the batteries are pretty much empty i.e well below the 'low' mark.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Lone Ranger

I have bought a bottle of distilled water,

I suspect you'll need more than one. I "neglect" my inverter battery, but not quite so badly, filling it up at least once a year. The indicators will show "empty" before the level has dropped as far as exposing the plates to air.

any extra precautions (apart from switching off the ups and disconnecting the terminals before filling)

I never do that! Just take the usual care that you would around anything electric.

You might have shortened your battery's life by making it so thirsty. But it is going to go on working at least as well as it does now... until it doesn't. Time will tell

[Lone Ranger]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

You might have shortened your battery's life by making it so thirsty. But it is going to go on working at least as well as it does now... until it doesn't. Time will tell

Many thanks for your reply Thad. You were right, between the two batteries they ‘drank’ three full bottles of distilled water. And the level indicators are pretty much sitting at the minimum level. So I will need another couple of bottles probably. If there is such a. Thing as cruelty to batteries, I am going to be burning in battery purgatory forever!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Lone Ranger

... I am going to be burning in battery purgatory forever!

It's ok. They stopped that a hundred years ago. Now you just have to pay the high price of a new battery.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by motorsan

My Lumnious Zelio+ inverter stopped working after 5+ years. Called up a local generic dealer who suggested replacement, and per his advice went ahead with Microtek Merlyn 1050.

Unfortunately, it feels like a downgrade:

1. Output power in Microtek is 725W compared to 756W for Luminous. (Both rated 900VA).
2. With Microtek, the TV restarts when power goes off, which means the inverter switch-over time is longer in Microtek compared to Luminous.
3. In case of overload cut off, Luminous used to recover automatically after 30 seconds. But for Microtek, one needs to manually restart it. A tedious job when the inverter is kept in a hard to reach spot.

The local dealer was of the opinion that Luminous quality had deteriorated of late and Microtek was the safe choice. No idea if there was any truth in that or if he was pulling a fast one on me.

You should have done some research on the model of Microtek before getting it. The higher end models of microtek are very well designed and reliable too. Looks may be simple but they are pretty solid!