[thanixravindran]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I currently have a tubular battery of local make (Older exide was replaced with this by the service guy when I was not at home). It has served for around 6-7 years but we are now facing issue where in the backup is not coming more than 4 hours even with just 1 or 2 fans running along with power for 2 laptops and modem. I am thinking of replacing the battery but not sure which one to go with. I reached out to a shop from where I purchase distilled water and he quoted 12k for an Amaron battery with 160AH with a backup of 5-6 hrs. I am somehow skeptical of Amaron due to the bad experience with my car battery and would like to go with Exide. Can you folks let me know which one is good and the price that I would get? Also can I have 2 150AH batteries added in series for getting a slightly higher backup?

I guess Exide Invatubular batteries are quite popular and long lasting compared to Amaron.

You need to have the 2 batteries in parallel to increase the back up time. Apart from that, if you are running old tube lights and normal fans, you can consider switching to LEDs and BLDC fans which consumes less power that can give slightly more backup time as well lower energy bills during regular mains operation.

[bluevolt]

What will be the required capacity for inverter along with battery capacity for a 3BHK household with requirement of running 3 tube-lights, 3 fans, 1 internet router, 1 LED TV or laptop and better if a refrigerator as well.

Backup expectation on full load at least 4-5 hours.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Also can I have 2 150AH batteries added in series for getting a slightly higher backup?

Unless your inverter is rated to supply the charging current for the combined battery, you shouldn't connect 2 batteries. Most normal sized inverters have a maximum rating (charging current) of 160 AH.

Originally Posted by bluevolt

What will be the required capacity for inverter along with battery capacity for a 3BHK household with requirement of running 3 tube-lights, 3 fans, 1 internet router, 1 LED TV or laptop and better if a refrigerator as well.

Power requirement:
3 X Tube light = 150 VA
3 X Fans = 210 VA
Router = ~ 20 VA
Laptop = ~ 60 VA
LED TV (32 inch) = 80 VA
Total = 520 VA

800 VA /900 W Inverter will suffice.


Switch to LED Tube light which will bring down the consumption to 18 W each instead of the 50 W of the normal tube light. Switch to BLDC fan which will consume about 30 VA instead of the 70 VA of normal fan.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by Prowler

800 VA /900 W Inverter will suffice.

What would be ideal battery capacity to support backup for 4-5 hours at minimum with full load.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

What would be ideal battery capacity to support backup for 4-5 hours at minimum with full load.

200 Amps battery should be sufficient for your needs.

[srikanthns]

What is the normal life of an inverter battery? Across brands, which one lasts longer? I have one Exide Inva Tubular 150 AH battery bought in March 2016. I do nothing other than periodic filling of distilled water

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by srikanthns

What is the normal life of an inverter battery? Across brands, which one lasts longer? I have one Exide Inva Tubular 150 AH battery bought in March 2016. I do nothing other than periodic filling of distilled water

There is no such thing. Batteries life depends on :

. Float charging current
. Ambient Temperature
. Deep discharge cycles
. Design

A well maintained battery can last upwards of eight years. Some batteries in older telephone exchanges could last for 15 years or more.

Normal tubular batteries in home environment last six to eight years. Flat plate batteries four to six years .

If you do not take care of your batteries and the water level goes down, the battery may last only two years.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by Aroy

There is no such thing. Batteries life depends on :
.

How do you conclude it is time to change? I have a battery that is 6 years old (tubular, but not "tall" tubular) and now whenever there is power cut the inverter starts giving long beeps. I checked the voltage and it is about 13.5 volts. But I don't think it is giving any good backup.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by shipnil

How do you conclude it is time to change? I have a battery that is 6 years old (tubular, but not "tall" tubular) and now whenever there is power cut the inverter starts giving long beeps. I checked the voltage and it is about 13.5 volts. But I don't think it is giving any good backup.

Check how long is the backup compared to what it was when the battery was new :

. If it is less than 20% then it is time to change the batteries.
. if it is between 40% and 20%, then you can think of changing, although there is still some life left.
. More than 50% it has still a lot of life.

[Samfromindia]

Anyone using Luminous e-float sensor for their Zelio inverters ? I bought this sensor recently, however it didnt seem to work as intended. Wasn't showing the electrolyte level low warning on the inverter when its not submerged in electrolyte. Also this sensor seems hard to come by, I found it getting sold by a Amazon retailer.

https://youtu.be/2P_7yozwhcM

[su_madness]

Hi, I have a 7.5kva inverter. It needs 120v batteries. Can I connect ten smaller batteries, say 40ah ones on it? A technician says the charging current output will damage the batteries soon and we need atleast 100ah ones. Our load will be about 4kw including a 2 ton inverter cassette ac which will be used only if it is too hot. Power goes for 2 hours max. Will using 2 60v lithium batteries be a better choice?

[aim120]

Originally Posted by su_madness

Hi, I have a 7.5kva inverter. It needs 120v batteries. Can I connect ten smaller batteries, say 40ah ones on it? A technician says the charging current output will damage the batteries soon and we need atleast 100ah ones. Our load will be about 4kw including a 2 ton inverter cassette ac which will be used only if it is too hot. Power goes for 2 hours max. Will using 2 60v lithium batteries be a better choice?

Lead acid batteries can only be charged at 0.1C or 10% of the rated capacity, any faster you start cooking the electrolyte. So unless the inverter has a toggle switch or menu options to select the current rating, you cannot use a low powered lead acid battery. The least you could go for is a 80ah to 100ah Tall tubular battery which have extra electrolyte.

As far as the lithium battery goes its not that simple, since the on board charger in your inverter is designed to charge 10 x12v batteries which have a bulk/absorption voltage of 14.2v to 14.5v each which translates to 142v to 145v and it will also have a float voltage 13.2v to 13.5v each or 132v to 135v for 10 batteries. Unless you have the ability to set all these voltage parameters in your inverter to match the lithium, you cannot connect a lithium battery.

[diyguy]

Need help designing an inverter overload solution. I moved to a house recently that supports only one inverter. All the 5A wiring passes via this inverter point. We have a number of devices that usually run and during a power failure all of these get supported by this one inverter. I moved from a 2 inverter load balanced home to this one inverter situation. I have an APC 850va and a Luminous 1100va inverter. The APC has an internal overload protection that seems to switch off output it the load is more than it should support. However the Luminous does not have this feature. I find this frustrating as the Luminous is brand new while my APC is more than 5 years old or even more. The Luminous board has failed twice and had an internal fuse burnt once. I want help to design an external overload protection for the Luminous so i can cut output if too many devices are switched on. Was thinking of normally on/relays and smart devices with triggers that can cut circuits but am not able to come up with a commodity end user solution.
I see circuitry on YouTube etc but wanted a simpler retrofit solution or approach.
Is there any sensor that i can use between the terminals of the battery that can detect over draw of current and break the circuit there?
I plan to load balance this house to split the rooms between two inverters but am still trying to build this retrofit, if simple.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Anyone using Luminous e-float sensor for their Zelio inverters ?

I have the inverter but did not buy the water sensor. I was not convinced about how one sensor in one cell could indicate the level of all six cells.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Need help designing an inverter overload solution. ....................................
I see circuitry on YouTube etc but wanted a simpler retrofit solution or approach.
Is there any sensor that i can use between the terminals of the battery that can detect over draw of current and break the circuit there?
I plan to load balance this house to split the rooms between two inverters but am still trying to build this retrofit, if simple.

The simplest overload protection is the humble FUSE. Just put a fuse on the "Live" wire of the output of inverter (that is in series) and every time there is an overload the fuse wiull blow.

NOTE : Fuses come in various types
. Slow blow fuse - these will normally accept overload for a short time and then blow.
. Fast blow - these will blow the moment the current rating is exceeded
. HRC - High rupture capacity mostly used for high current. The fuse body is protected against any damage due to the fuse blowing.

The problem with fuses is that they are one shot. Once blown they have to be replaced, fine for cases where the overload is occational, or protection is paramount, but a pain for regular tripping.

So, use an overload relay/MCB, the type used in the mains supply. Again be aware of various types - A,B,C,D,Z. These represent the overload and tripiing curves. So use one with the fastest tripping time (lowest overload).

https://www.electricalclassroom.com/...b-trip-curves/