If your batteries are not lasting beyond two years, please check the inverter. Its charging circuit may be faulty. Any way next time get a full tubular battery designed for Inverter work, not the normal or "semi-tubular" type.

Method for rejuvenating batteries :
. Discharge the battery fully, preferably on a 10 hour discharge cycle, that is not more than 15A for a 150AH battery. Use 2 100W bulbs as load.
. Charge it at 20 hour rate, that is 150AH battery should be charged at max 7.5A current.

Carry out the above for 2 or 3 cycles. Your battery should rejuvenate.

In order to carry out the above properly
. You will need to monitor the charging and discharging current. Let them not go beyond the values as stated above
. You will need to monitor the water level in each cell. Better still get a battery maintenance person to check the water level and acid density before you start the process.

^^Do you mean to say the current battery can be revived by the above method? What should be the specific gravity for this method to work?

Which tubular battery is the best? Are there any maintenance-free types available?

Normally battery cells go bad due to the material falling off the grid and shorting. At times carrying out the above procedure may restore some capacity for 3-6 months. Hence there is no harm in trying.

For tubular batteries get one which meets the following criteria the best
. Designed for Inverter and deep discharge cycles
. Warranty of 5 years+ (yes there are some with this warranty)
. Good after sales service

Let me see if any of the battery shops will carry this out for me. They will be more interested in selling me a new battery! This battery has been perfect till now. Initially I checked the water level once a month, then once in two months and finally settled to a quarterly inspection. The level was stable and it would take very little water to top up the battery. The last check was on 3oth June. The charge/discharge voltages were checked while installing the current battery and were found to be correct.

Thank you Guys for your reply. I had some more Queries though.

1) As i quoted before, I am getting the Sukam 180Ah Tubular Battery for 11800 which seems rather Cheap. But i have not heard very good things about Su-kam Batteries as Su-kam is mainly into manufacturing Inverters. And it also has only 2 Yrs. Warranty.

2) I got a Quote of 14000/- for Exide Invatubular IT500 with 4 Yrs. Replacement Warranty. Is this a fair price or is it costly ?

3) I was going to go for the Exide Invared 500 Tubular Battery for 11500/- with 3 Yrs. Replacement Warranty. But i found out later that Invared is a Semi-Tubular Battery and not fully Tubular as Quoted by Exide.

4) Are there any Fully Tubular Batteries that are not Tower Type ? As i will have to buy a separate Trolley for a Tower Type Battery.

5) I am going to choose between Sukam Falcon or Shiny Inverter. Anybody has any experience on Sukam Falcon and Shiny Inverter. Which is better and problem free among the two. Falcon has been around for some time while Shiny is newly launched.

6) I am getting 2000/- as Exchange Price for my current working 5 Yrs. old Luminous Inverter & 3 Yr. old Prestolite Battery. Is this a fair price ?

7) Any other suggestions for a good fully Tubular Battery ? I am not considering Non-tubular or Semi-tubular batteries.

I have to finalize it this week. Suggestions please.

Is this true? It is written "Tubular" on the Invared battery. I am contemplating this battery as replacement. The tower type (tall) tubular batteries from Exide may not fit inside the inverter trolley.

abhi3284@
1. Go for branded tubular batteries only with 4+ year warranty.
2. IT500 is a good buy, there is a lot of confusion regarding whether it is tubular or not. (if it was fully tubular, they wont write invatubular). It is not mentioned in the warranty card, but it has good life and good warranty, with less complaints and one of the best battery in market. That price is fair. It can cost up to 16500/-
3. Dont got for invared.
4. Exide says EL tubular is their fully tubular battery. (they dont say it for IT500). I think you wont get Amco tubular non-tower type
5. Check with your friends about the brand of inverters they use. Make sure sukam has a service center in your area.
6. 2000 for exchange is a good price (usually they increase the new battery price and give good exchange for old, so you think it is a good deal, just marketing gimicks)
7. Exide EL tubular and Amco tubular is good.

Gansan@ Exide EL tubular is good with 4 year warranty it comes around 12000 ( it is not tower type).. amco tubular is good too, but I think you wont get non-tower type.

Dont go for invared, heard it has complaints.

^^I am taking my time to choose a battery. The current battery is heating up but since I noticed the problem early on, the water had not gone below the plates. So I got it topped up first, and am currently connecting the inverter only at night.

BTW I don't see any EL tubular battery on the Exide website? What does EL denote?

Heating battery means most probably your inverter charging has gone kaput, so that means you wont have to buy a new battery after all. Have it checked.

Just ask any exide dealer for exide el tubular, they will know. Google it out.

Has anybody heard about Exide CEIL Tubular Battery. It is exactly similar to Exide Inva Series. Exide Inva Tubular IT 500 is for 14000/- whereas Exide CEIL Tubular CT 500 is for 12500/- Both are exactly the same except the name Inva and Ceil.
CEIL has 6 months less Warranty of 30 Months compared to 36 Months of Inva Tubular.

Same problem occurred when the last battery failed as well. They checked the charging parameters while installing the Amaron battery and it was found to be correct. After the new battery was installed, the charging light went off within a few minutes. There was no heating issue afterward, till now.

I want to replace the batteries of my APC 1kV. It currently has two 75AH Exide SMF batteries which lasted hardly 1.5 years. Looking at tubular or flat plate this time around. Power outages are quite frequent (2-3 times a day). What are the best options?

Also, need pointers to reliable dealers in Bangalore.

@Ganesan,
you can checkout exide tubular range in the below link

http://www.exideindustrialbatteries....%20Tubular.pdf

but they are bit hard to find as not many people opt for it.

I have to IT500 running for more than 2 years now, their build quality is not very great compared to the EL range, but their performance is commendable. Have endured many 12 hour power cuts with them powering the APC BI 1000 in my home.

Last month I got a quote of 13500 from a dealer in mount road(got thorugh the exide site) for IT500, but forgot his details.

P.S: I was about to check with you on the amaron shield performance when I ran into this thread :-)

I am planning to purchase an inverter for my home and met a dealer.
He suggested to go for Crompton 800VA + Exide Maintanence free battery(135ah). Since I have seen details about Tubular batteries.
Can someone throw light on tubular battery. Should we get 2 batteries for 800VA inverter.

Just got a new Inverter Battery Setup installed today in my house.

Following is the Break-up:-

Sukam Shiny 850VA Sine wave Inverter :- 5000/- [2 Yrs. Warranty].
Exide Inva Tubular IT 500 150ah Tall Battery :- 13500/- [4 Yrs. Warranty].
Sukam Tall Battery Trolley :- 1000/-
Buy Back of Old Inverter & Battery :- 2000/-

Can anyone using IT 500 tell me what is the frequency of Distilled Water topping up needed ?

@ramanan.skr :

A Sine Wave Inverter coupled with 1 150 ah Tubular Battery would be your best bet.
Tubular Battery is a bit expensive compared to SMF or Non-tubular ones but it turns out to be beneficial in the longer run. Lasts a lot more than normal batteries.
And, 1 150 ah Battery should suffice for a 800 VA Inverter.