[clevermax]

Originally Posted by R2D2

And the Exide Invatubular battery set turned 10 this month, purchased in Apr 2013. TBH I am chuffed.

Nothing much to add over the previous update except for the normal DW/DIW top up back in mid Feb.

10 years is excellent. What kind/brand of distilled water were you using to top it up? I am using rainwater that passes my TDS test (has to read 0). I have a friend who managed to use an Exide tubular battery up to 10 years using only rainwater.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by clevermax

10 years is excellent. What kind/brand of distilled water were you using to top it up? I am using rainwater that passes my TDS test (has to read 0). I have a friend who managed to use an Exide tubular battery up to 10 years using only rainwater.

Oh it's a locally manufactured err distilled/processed water by a company that sells it in bottles at most petrol pumps. Of course I buy em in 5 litre cans and 4 at a time because each top up takes about 1.5-2.5 litres depending on seasonal temps. I buy the stuff directly from the company.

PS - I can attribute the longeviry of this battery set to 3 factors:

a) Meticulous maintenance
b) Exide's manufacturing quality
c) Last, but not the least, the charging circuit on the Microtek sine wave inverter.

Not sure how long this set will last but time will tell. I am getting ready for a replacement though.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Anybody aware of availability of large capacity (150-200 Ah+) LiPo / LiFePo /"graphene" batteries in India?


Have to replace 8 nos 150 AH C10 lead acid batteries in my solar panels.

[Mustang_Boss]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Anybody aware of availability of large capacity (150-200 Ah+) LiPo / LiFePo /"graphene" batteries in India?


Have to replace 8 nos 150 AH C10 lead acid batteries in my solar panels.

Taking a guess based on what i know.
These chemistries would be very expensive in india as government would impose heavy import duties. Its best to stick to regular Tall Tubular batteries. You can talk to a dealer of amaron or exide and cut a very good deal on this purchase.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Oh it's a locally manufactured err distilled/processed water by a company that sells it in bottles at most petrol pumps. Of course I buy em in 5 litre cans and 4 at a time because each top up takes about 1.5-2.5 litres depending on seasonal temps. I buy the stuff directly from the company.

PS - I can attribute the longeviry of this battery set to 3 factors:

a) Meticulous maintenance
b) Exide's manufacturing quality
c) Last, but not the least, the charging circuit on the Microtek sine wave inverter.

Not sure how long this set will last but time will tell. I am getting ready for a replacement though.

How large inverter are you having ? My typical 150 AH Luminous set is almost 3 yrs now in Pune, and never ever the water level went below the threshold for all the indicators.

I bought a distilled water bottle from a local battery store which I didn't have a requirement to use so far, it showed a TDS level of 3 on my MI water tester.

[Gansan]

^^Remove the caps of each cell and check the water level. There is no way a battery's water level won't go down for three years. The indicator/sensor that Luminous sells is not dependable in my opinion. After all they give a sensor for only one cell.

I have the same Luminous inverter and it's tall tubular battery takes in ~ 1.2 itres of water every four months. I did not buy the water level indicator for the above mentioned reason. The original Luminous tall tubular battery lasted eight years and recently I replaced it with Amaron.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^Remove the caps of each cell and check the water level. There is no way a battery's water level won't go down for three years. The indicator/sensor that Luminous sells is not dependable in my opinion. After all they give a sensor for only one cell.

I have the same Luminous inverter and it's tall tubular battery takes in ~ 1.2 itres of water every four months. I did not buy the water level indicator for the above mentioned reason. The original Luminous tall tubular battery lasted eight years and recently I replaced it with Amaron.

I am not talking about the electronic indicator which luminous sells which i mentioned in this post here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...ml#post5384560 (Inverter Batteries)

The battery comes with float indicators with green and red markings and if water level is below red we are supposed to top it off. None of the 6 indicators went below red in my case. Are you suggesting that they are faulty and I should open up and have a look ?

https://youtu.be/TyUnWGTfNio

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Are you suggesting that they are faulty and I should open up and have a look ?

I will remove the float caps and check/top up every four months even when they show good level of electrolyte. They may be struck in position sometimes, though all six getting struck is very very remote. But still, a battery not needing top up for three years is highly unlikely. So better remove the caps and ensure.

The new Amaron battery I bought last year has only one float for all six cells, and it shows full. But still I check once every four months.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

How large inverter are you having ? My typical 150 AH Luminous set is almost 3 yrs now in Pune, and never ever the water level went below the threshold for all the indicators.

3 years and no top up? Something is wrong and you need to do a manual check. I have a 1.5 KVA inverter with 2 x 200 AH tall tubular batteries and they require a top up every 2-3 months depending on the weatrher. I had last topped them up in mid Feb and another top ip is due now. We have hit 40 C and it's really hot!

Please check water levels manually and at regular intervals. Your floats are obviously inaccurate.

[sagarpadaki]

I notice that whenever there is a power cut the speed of the fan running reduces by around 30% when running on inverter compared to the Mains. I feel the reduction in speed is bit more now. Does it point to any deficiency in battery or inverter? Battery are a couple of 100Ah Amaron non-tubular and Inverter is a 1000VA APC

[gpa]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I notice that whenever there is a power cut the speed of the fan running reduces by around 30% when running on inverter compared to the Mains.

How old are the set of batteries? I noticed a similar trend when an old set of batteries were nearing their end of life. The problem disappeared when the batteries were replaced.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by gpa

How old are the set of batteries? I noticed a similar trend when an old set of batteries were nearing their end of life. The problem disappeared when the batteries were replaced.

The batteries are 7 years old Amaron.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I notice that whenever there is a power cut the speed of the fan running reduces by around 30% when running on inverter compared to the Mains.

Actually for a well designed Inverter there should be no change in the output voltage when the input (battery) voltage drops within nominal range. The Inverter will complain if the battery voltage drops beyond a set limit (the buzzer will sound) initially and then it cuts out to protect the battery.

But many poorly designed inverters have poor output voltage regulation which explains the drop in fan speed. Measure the output voltage as well as the battery voltage under load. If they remain within accepted range, the inverter's frequency (50 Hz) drops under load which again will lower the fan speed if they are the conventional induction motor types. BLDC fans won't be affected by AC frequency.

Having said that, be aware that when the batteries reach the end of their useful lives, they consume more current even when idle. A typical example - our 3 KVA Server UPS consumes about 200 mA when the batteries are fresh. After a few years the consumption rises to about 450 mA. You will end up paying more for current bill if you continue to run your aging batteries. There will be many signs - a very warm battery and lower run time.

As R2D2 always says - it pays to maintain your batteries.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Prowler

But many poorly designed inverters have poor output voltage regulation which explains the drop in fan speed. Measure the output voltage as well as the battery voltage under load. If they remain within accepted range, the inverter's frequency (50 Hz) drops under load which again will lower the fan speed if they are the conventional induction motor types. BLDC fans won't be affected by AC frequency.

Having said that, be aware that when the batteries reach the end of their useful lives, they consume more current even when idle. A typical example - our 3 KVA Server UPS consumes about 200 mA when the batteries are fresh. After a few years the consumption rises to about 450 mA. You will end up paying more for current bill if you continue to run your aging batteries. There will be many signs - a very warm battery and lower run time.
.

I will check the O/P voltage and battery voltage under load. What should be the ideal values for these?

Also, I believe I have maintained these batteries well with bi-annual distilled water topup. I will check if the batteries are getting warm under load. I thought these batteries will last around 10 years.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I will check the O/P voltage and battery voltage under load. What should be the ideal values for these?

I thought these batteries will last around 10 years.

Mains and output voltage of the inverter ought to be 220 V. Fully charged lead acid batteries ought to give voltage of ~12.7 V.

Life span of batteries also depends on discharge - recharge cycles. Typical life is 1200 recharges if you discharge till 20%. And much higher number of discharge - recharge cycles if you discharge only till 50%. There are so many variables here. Like allowing a battery to discharge fully once in a while.