Team-BHP - Inverter or generator?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 1300945)

I had a failure one year before that. Had a problem locating Luminous Service. The main card was changed restoring operation but not full display. I had another failure within 15 months, so decided to change

Benny would find this interesting!

I've been using two Luminous inverters, 1400VA and 800 VA, for 11 and 10 years respectively!
Seems they don't make 'em like that anymore! :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by anupmathur (Post 1300969)

Benny would find this interesting!

I have this faint feeling i may opt for Microtek, but waiting for the SuKam people to contact me. Luminous and Microtek have been very prompt. An hour or so after i used their contact email address on their site, i got calls from their representatives.

bit OT guys, can I use Petrol as an alternate fuel for the Kerosene Generator.

I have a 10 yr old generator which uses Petrol for Start and Kerosene for Run. Though mechanic who serviced it a month back told me I can use petrol, though it will cost more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkbharat (Post 1361904)

... Though mechanic who serviced it a month back told me I can use petrol, though it will cost more.

The book the book! That will tell all.
Chances are it would be safe to run on petrol for the long runs too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benbsb29 (Post 1299876)

Luminous had called, and have given me a similar price, but with warranty on the battery (tubular) being 30 months.

APC doesnt meet my requirements (800VA) for the simple reason that it wont support running a PC on the inverter (quasi sine wave).

They do have 1000va which is a sine wave inverter .:)

I have started getting a few infrequent power cuts lasting about 15-20 mins.So,I have decided to go in for an inverter.
My requirements would be about 3 fans, 4 CFLs and a TV.I don't need my 250L fridge to be connected to the inverter as it can remain cool enough with these small power cuts.
The quotes I have got are:

Microtek
850 VA (sine wave) - 5200/-
850 VA (non-sine) - 4500/-
Exide 150AH (non-tubular) - 8500/-
Installation - 150/- plus material charges extra.
This guy told me that I should go for a better battery like exide rather than sticking to the battery offered by Microtek.

Luminous
800 VA (sine wave) - 5300/-
800 VA (non sine) - 4400/-
Microtek 135 AH (non-tubular) - 7500/-
Installation - 400/- all inclusive
Though this guy insisted that one should always have the inverter and the battery of the same company he still tried to push Hyundai battery(tubular) for 8500/-

(All the inverters mentioned have 2 years warranty and the batteries have 1.5 years warranty)

Few questions:
1) Are the quotes OK?
2) Advantages of sine wave over non sine wave inverter.
3) Advantages of tubular over non tubular battery.
4) Should I go in for a small generator rather than an inverter?If yes, how much would a small generator cost ,preferably a LPG one.

>> 4) Should I go in for a small generator rather than an inverter?If yes, how much would a small generator cost ,preferably a LPG one.

I suggest this is the better option. Can be used in case of longer cuts as well and the biggest plus .. it runs the fridge and any emergency ironing, grinding or mixie/food processor use.

You can use inverter only as a secondary source in India of today, never the primary one. LPG gensets are cheap and run on petrol as well.

I finally bought the Luminous 800VA inverter and Hyundai tubular 150AH Battery.
The installation guy said that there will be too much wiring involved if I go for separate wiring so he has connected it directly to the mains.So the earlier load for different rooms which was distributed on 6 different MCBs has now come on 1 single MCB but he insists that it is not so since the entire load ,except power plugs, is now on the inverter.
Do I need to go in for separate wiring or is this fine?
I do hear a kind of a whirring (or a very low whistling) sound from the inverter which is there even when the inverter fan is off.Is this normal?
The Hyundai battery he brought was just wrapped in a polythene.The box he said had got wet in the rain & there is no mention of the manufacturing date on the Battery.So now I am not sure whether he was telling the truth though he did give me a warranty card.

Quote:

Do I need to go in for separate wiring or is this fine?
I do hear a kind of a whirring (or a very low whistling) sound from the inverter which is there even when the inverter fan is off.Is this normal?

As long as the output from the inverter is not connected to any power plug feeding high current appliances, you are ok. If you connect appliances like Electric iron box, vacuum cleaner or some thing which is rated above 400 VA, you are going to be in trouble.
Many inexpensive inverters don't shut down gracefully when overloaded or facing a fully inductive load. Instead they fail disastrously putting Diwali fire crackers to shame.

It is normal to hear a "whirring" sound due to magnetostriction where the transformer core vibrates. It does this when asked to supply a large current to charge the batteries. Once the batteries are charged fully, the sound may come down to inaudible level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rishab.k (Post 1373789)

I finally bought the Luminous 800VA inverter and Hyundai tubular 150AH Battery.

Rishab, how much did the setup cost you?

Guys, how is the general opinion about SF Sonic Power Box series of batteries? Is that a tubular battery or flat plate? Snooping around on their site didnt reveal much.

benny, I have the same setup, ie. a Luminous 800va inverter with Luminous 165AH tubular battery. I got the whole setup with a nice trolley and installation, all done for 15000 bucks.

I have also opted for a direct to the mains setup as I was not keen on limiting myself by having emergency supply available on some chosen points only. Besides I did not want to carry out such massive wiring in all the rooms in a rented house. This also reduces the cost of installation (material, labor etc), dirty looking wiring everywhere as well as gives you enormous flexibility as well. Only that I need to ensure that the load is not too high. For that my simple solution is to keep the inverter switched off. When the supply goes off I take a minute to ensure that unnecessary things are not switched on (like both the TVs or an ironbox). Thereafter I manually switch it on.

This setup is good enough to cover all my needs. And yes, being a pure Sine Wave setup I use my laptop and modem also with this supply.