[JMaruru]

I need to replace 2 X 120AH batteries of my 1400VA Sukam Inverter. Where i reside, we have power cuts couple of times in the day for max 2 hours. So, rather than a 2 X 120AH batteries, wouldn't 2 X 100AH batteries suffice for my requirements? Considering it will help in deep discharging the batteries, and hence might increase the battery life and also save on power for recharging the batteries.

Please advice.

[gopalnayak]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I need to replace 2 X 120AH batteries of my 1400VA Sukam Inverter. Where i reside, we have power cuts couple of times in the day for max 2 hours. So, rather than a 2 X 120AH batteries, wouldn't 2 X 100AH batteries suffice for my requirements? Considering it will help in deep discharging the batteries, and hence might increase the battery life and also save on power for recharging the batteries.

Please advice.

Regular deep discharge will reduce the life of the batteries. I suggest you stick to the 120 Ah ones. I am not sure if you'll actually save power on recharging the batteries. Remember that the power required to charge is related to the amount discharged and not the capacity of the batteries.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by gopalnayak

Regular deep discharge will reduce the life of the batteries. I suggest you stick to the 120 Ah ones. I am not sure if you'll actually save power on recharging the batteries. Remember that the power required to charge is related to the amount discharged and not the capacity of the batteries.

Yes deep discharge cycles are fixed for a battery design (around 500 for normal batteries). Once you have exceeded that the battery will be at end-of-life and start deteriorating rapidly, so it is better to avoid frequent deep discharges.

I would go further and suggest that you use 150AH batteries. This will give you a cushion in case the power cuts are longer or more frequent. If you want to prolong the battery life charge it at 10 hours charge rate. Faster charging reduces the lead acid battery life.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by gopalnayak

Regular deep discharge will reduce the life of the batteries. I suggest you stick to the 120 Ah ones. I am not sure if you'll actually save power on recharging the batteries. Remember that the power required to charge is related to the amount discharged and not the capacity of the batteries.

Originally Posted by Aroy

Yes deep discharge cycles are fixed for a battery design (around 500 for normal batteries). Once you have exceeded that the battery will be at end-of-life and start deteriorating rapidly, so it is better to avoid frequent deep discharges.

I would go further and suggest that you use 150AH batteries. This will give you a cushion in case the power cuts are longer or more frequent. If you want to prolong the battery life charge it at 10 hours charge rate. Faster charging reduces the lead acid battery life.

The batteries (2 X 120AH)what i have now, would not have gone for deep discharge once in it's lifetime coz of outages being less than 2 hours and also the time between outages is sufficient for it to be fully charged. Hence, the thought that 2 X 100AH might be the right choice, as it would support me well enough for these 2 hours and also might get drained once in a while for a deep discharge. What say?

[gopalnayak]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

The batteries (2 X 120AH)what i have now, would not have gone for deep discharge once in it's lifetime coz of outages being less than 2 hours and also the time between outages is sufficient for it to be fully charged. Hence, the thought that 2 X 100AH might be the right choice, as it would support me well enough for these 2 hours and also might get drained once in a while for a deep discharge. What say?

Deep discharge does not necessary mean draining the battery out completely. The more percentage you discharge, the worse the life of the battery. That is why Aroy suggested using 150 Ah batteries. 100 Ah would work fine, just that the battery life would get shortened. The charging current from the inverter would also be constant. This means that for lower capacity batteries, the batteries will get charged faster leading to reduced life again. It all comes to the amount of money you are willing to spend. If the difference between 120 Ah and 100 Ah batteries is substantial (20%+), I would possibly go with the 100 Ah batteries.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

The batteries (2 X 120AH)what i have now, would not have gone for deep discharge once in it's lifetime coz of outages being less than 2 hours and also the time between outages is sufficient for it to be fully charged. Hence, the thought that 2 X 100AH might be the right choice, as it would support me well enough for these 2 hours and also might get drained once in a while for a deep discharge. What say?

If the batteries are fully charged between outages then it is fine. But I doubt that. A proper charging circuit to prolong the battery life should charge the battery in 10-15 hours. So if you are using up 30% of battery in one hour of power failure, then ideally there should be at least 4 hours before the next power cut.

I faced a peculiar situation last week. The power would keep going off for 10-15 minutes every hour. This started in the morning, and by evening the UPS could not support the load (around 30% or rated load). The reason is that the battery could not be charged sufficiently between power cuts.

Please note that at times of low voltage; which normally precede or follow a power cut; the batteries do not charge properly.

Thus if you have long power cuts say two hours at a time, once a day, you may reduce the battery to 100AH. If you have a lot of short duration power cuts, then it is better to increase the size to 150AH.

[geeash]

Hi i am surprised to see such active threads here other than cars.

I am contemplating to get a inverter for my home. Basic requirement is 600 to 850 va. The power cuts are frequent here (15mins to half an hour cycles/ 3-4 times a day). sometimes more than one hour. one day full load shedding per month from 9-5.

So have got a quote for inverter from sulekha

Sukam 850va + sukam 150ah battery 15750/- 2 1/2 years warranty for inverter and 1 1/2 yrs warranty for battery ( dont know whether they have tubular battery or what) (periodic maintanence costs extra) will enquire

2. 850va Microtek + Invasafe maintanence free battery (model invasafe 400 - 100ah) costs 14k

Just now saw this thread and came to know information that these are not tubular batteries and will only withstand 500 discharge cycles with 50% dod.

Is it worth getting a tubular battery? is one available at su-kam? or go for microtek with inva tubular batteries? 100ah or 150ah?

[arsudarsan]

Originally Posted by geeash

Hi i am surprised to see such active threads here other than cars.

I am contemplating to get a inverter for my home. Basic requirement is 600 to 850 va. The power cuts are frequent here (15mins to half an hour cycles/ 3-4 times a day). sometimes more than one hour. one day full load shedding per month from 9-5.

So have got a quote for inverter from sulekha

Sukam 850va + sukam 150ah battery 15750/- 2 1/2 years warranty for inverter and 1 1/2 yrs warranty for battery ( dont know whether they have tubular battery or what) (periodic maintanence costs extra) will enquire

2. 850va Microtek + Invasafe maintanence free battery (model invasafe 400 - 100ah) costs 14k

Just now saw this thread and came to know information that these are not tubular batteries and will only withstand 500 discharge cycles with 50% dod.

Is it worth getting a tubular battery? is one available at su-kam? or go for microtek with inva tubular batteries? 100ah or 150ah?

Tubular batteries are worth it. There is one available in Su-kam. They were selling it at the Kitchen and Bath expo at Trade Center last week.
I had got an APC pure sine wave 850va and a Hi Power battery 120 AH for 18700 from Viveks Tambaram in May. It works well for me. Had scheduled maintenance last tuesday and I was working from home, had absolutely no issues with 1 Fan, laptop, LCD monitor, ADSL modem for the entire duration with songs being played on my 2.1 system for a couple of hours.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by geeash

Hi i am surprised to see such active threads here other than cars.

I am contemplating to get a inverter for my home. Basic requirement is 600 to 850 va. The power cuts are frequent here (15mins to half an hour cycles/ 3-4 times a day). sometimes more than one hour. one day full load shedding per month from 9-5.

Is it worth getting a tubular battery? is one available at su-kam? or go for microtek with inva tubular batteries? 100ah or 150ah?

Under frequent discharge, even for short duration, a tubular battery would last longer. Ensure that you get a "Tubular" (check the literature) and not some compromise. Beware, there are lot of batteries which are essentially non-tunular, but advertised with "tubular some thing" in the name.

You can always buy the battery you want, with most of the inverters. I have a Sukam 800VA with a 150AH Exide, Red. All you have to do is get the split up of prices for
1. Inverter
2. Battery
3. Trolley (yes they charge you for it!)

and from on, there mix and match.

[geeash]

Finally negotiating the price for the inverter

Microtek 850va + battery (exide inva tubular it500 150ah): 18.2k+ trolley extra

sukam 850va + 150 ah sukam tubular battery 19k inclusive of the trolley

is this ok price? or can i negotiate more??

[arsudarsan]

The price looks ok to me considering that we were qouted 18k odd at the expo without trolley.

[abhi3284]

I am hunting for a new Inverter & Battery as our current one has started giving problems.

I got the following Quote :

Su-kam 850 VA Shiny - 5000

Su-kam 800 VA Falcon - 4800

Sukam 180 Ah Tubular Battery - 11800.

Exchange Price for old Inverter & Battery - 2000.

Trolley - 1200.

2 Yrs. Warranty on both Inverter & Battery.

Is this a Reasonable Quote ?

[navan49]

The quote seems to be reasonable. Battery I use is SF Stanred tubular 11500 in fact it is also a make of Exide.The battery is really good.I use the sukam Sinewave inverter.These two are good combination.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by abhi3284

I am hunting for a new Inverter & Battery as our current one has started giving problems.

I got the following Quote :

Su-kam 850 VA Shiny - 5000

Su-kam 800 VA Falcon - 4800

Sukam 180 Ah Tubular Battery - 11800.

Exchange Price for old Inverter & Battery - 2000.

Trolley - 1200.

2 Yrs. Warranty on both Inverter & Battery.

Is this a Reasonable Quote ?

Reasonable.

As summer is over, the demand for inverter will be down, so you can try your negociation skills and bring the price down
. Trolley price. Rs.500.
. Falcon Rs.4,000.

Check the manufacturing date of the battery. Ideally it should not be more than six months old.

[Gansan]

I think my Amaron Shield 150 AH battery of my inverter is on the blink. It has performed flawlessly for exactly two years. I saw the charging lamp remain on for hours together last night, even though there was no noticeable power cut. When I went near to investigate, found both inverter and battery very hot to touch. This is exactly what happened when the previous battery failed, so I have switched off the inverter and isolated it for now.

My area experiences a 9 - 5 maintenance shut down once a month. Apart from this, there are frequent short duration power-cuts about twice a day, that last from 15 - 45 minutes. I suspect it is the latter ones that reduce the working life of my battery.

I am inclined to go for Amaron again, but are there any better choices that have cropped-up recently in the maintenance free category?