[diyguy]

Just a thought, Can a home inverter be used to charge a car battery? I recently gave my qualis for some repair and service and the service center returned the car with the battery flat discharged. It was 5 years old and had a faulty cell and was due for a change but was running fine with daily use. They had it for a week with no start and I guess it discharged due to that.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Just a thought, Can a home inverter be used to charge a car battery? I recently gave my qualis for some repair and service and the service center returned the car with the battery flat discharged. It was 5 years old and had a faulty cell and was due for a change but was running fine with daily use. They had it for a week with no start and I guess it discharged due to that.

YES, provided you disconnect the Inverter Battery, after all the Inverter has a battery charger. The only issue is that normally the Inverter charges batteries of 100-150AH capacity, while the car batteries are 80AH or less, hence it may be overcharged. The best bet is to charge it for 4-5 hours only. That will give the car battery enough capacity to start the car, obviating overcharging.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

YES, provided you disconnect the Inverter Battery, after all the Inverter has a battery charger. The only issue is that normally the Inverter charges batteries of 100-150AH capacity, while the car batteries are 80AH or less, hence it may be overcharged. The best bet is to charge it for 4-5 hours only. That will give the car battery enough capacity to start the car, obviating overcharging.

Should have tried that instead of buying a new battery...

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Should have tried that instead of buying a new battery...

You can also buy a small battery charger called "Trickle charger" for a few hundred rupees and use it for charging the battery overnight. If your running is less especially if at night, regular charging will prolong the battery life.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

You can also buy a small battery charger called "Trickle charger" for a few hundred rupees and use it for charging the battery overnight. If your running is less especially if at night, regular charging will prolong the battery life.

I actually have jump cables and another car, could have done that too. Fun is making use of what we have at our disposal rather than buy something specific. I was out of the country, hence had to resort to a remote purchase for the Missus.

I also have a 12v Maxine step down which I think can be used as a trickle charge?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I actually have jump cables and another car, could have done that too. Fun is making use of what we have at our disposal rather than buy something specific. I was out of the country, hence had to resort to a remote purchase for the Missus.

I also have a 12v Maxine step down which I think can be used as a trickle charge?

Not sure what 12V Maxine is. To charge you need DC, that is there must be a rectifier after the transformer.

By the way the voltage needs to be around 14V not 12V at the DC end. If the rectifier "drops" 1V (usual for single diode configuration) or 2V (for a full bridge configuration), then the AC should be adjusted accordingly.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Not sure what 12V Maxine is. To charge you need DC, that is there must be a rectifier after the transformer.

By the way the voltage needs to be around 14V not 12V at the DC end. If the rectifier "drops" 1V (usual for single diode configuration) or 2V (for a full bridge configuration), then the AC should be adjusted accordingly.

Sorry should have been more clear, it is a 12v dc source stepped down from 230v ac

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Sorry should have been more clear, it is a 12v dc source stepped down from 230v ac

You will still need 14+V to charge a lead acid battery.

Check whether the device can supply at least 1A, as less than that will not be of much use. You may also need a protection circuit to prevent excessive current being drawn from the device.

[tsk13]

This question is related to a 62.5 kVA 3 Phase Cummins DG. It came with a Cummins Pulse 12v 45Ah Battery which knocked off couple of days ago. I was going through their literature on http://www.cumminsindia.com/document...Lite%20new.pdf

This says for Generators in 30kVA to 82.5kVA Range, replace 12V 34Ah Battery with 12v 88Ah/ 100Ah. Now this is confusing, I assume they supply a less powerful as stock (cost issues) but suggest upgrading it when due for replacement. Take note that the said batteries have VRLA Construction.

I request BHPians who've a good hold at this field to explain this concept and suggest what other options do I've apart from Cummins Pulse Battery.

[rajcs]

The brochure indicated at the link seems to suggest the opposite. It says the new Pulse battery with thin plate technology produces high starting current even at a lower Ah rating.
For your 62.5 kVA genset a 45 Ah pulse battery is recommended by cummins and you could use this in place of a normal battery rated at 80 to 100 Ah. You already have a 45 Ah pulse battery which is also the recommended replacement. But if you are not happy with its life you could always use any 80 Ah battery.
However, it is advisable to check why the battery went duff in the first place. Is there any issue with the charging circuit of the DG set, for example?

[tsk13]

Originally Posted by rajcs

The brochure indicated at the link seems to suggest the opposite. It says the new Pulse battery with thin plate technology produces high starting current even at a lower Ah rating.
For your 62.5 kVA genset a 45 Ah pulse battery is recommended by cummins and you could use this in place of a normal battery rated at 80 to 100 Ah. You already have a 45 Ah pulse battery which is also the recommended replacement. But if you are not happy with its life you could always use any 80 Ah battery.
However, it is advisable to check why the battery went duff in the first place. Is there any issue with the charging circuit of the DG set, for example?

Today I get a call from Cummins SVAM (The Service Division) telling me they'll replace it. Anyhow, right now the DG is running on an 88Ah Exide Kisaan Battery meant for tractor application sourced at Rs.200/day.

It was already 1.5 years into service and the generator has merely clocked 300 hours. Seems one-off case or lets see how long does the replacement last. It was a tough task arranging one under warranty since these chaps say we honour Battery warranty from the date of Invoice and Engine Warranty from the date of Commissioning, in my case these were 6 months apart. Double Standards they've, the battery itself was unboxed and connected on the date of commissioning, so what's the non-sense all about? Warranty for Battery not from the moment it's unpacked/ commissioned but from the date when the invoice was generated, this is iilogical!

Some hard-talking did the work, especially when the matter was escalated directly to a Cummins Representative.

A note to all, whenever you face such issues, make a point to search the net, especially Linked In to know whose in the Top Management, plays a vital role when the lower-level works in anti-consumer manner to ruin the brand value.

[999]

Hi Guys,
I am in the dilemma of Inverter Vs Generator. The pure sine output of the inverter was a plus, given the electronics we use today. The limited back up time and low conversion efficiency inherent to the battery charge cycle put me against the inverter. If I can use atleast 75% of the power, generator turns out to be a better solution. Then I came across this generator from Honda
http://www.hondasielpower.com/genset_EU30is.html
Petrol powered inverter generator, with a pure sine (distortion less than 2.5%) output. From US data it can run for 20 hours with 11.4 liters of petrol (of course, at non peak loads).
What do you guys think?

[S_U_N]

^Is that cheaper than electricity consumed for charging the inverter?
11.4 lt of petrol will cost around Rs. 850 which was my monthly electricity bill in the last house where we had a 620VA inverter from Microtek and a Okaya 100 Ah battery.

[999]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

^Is that cheaper than electricity consumed for charging the inverter?
11.4 lt of petrol will cost around Rs. 850 which was my monthly electricity bill in the last house where we had a 620VA inverter from Microtek and a Okaya 100 Ah battery.

Well SUN,
The question I had was about the reliability,pros/cons of use of a petrol engined generator against the general inverter and diesel gensets. It is no way cheaper. Diesel fuel though cheaper, the gensets if run under partial load generated a lot of issues. The worst ones being the glazed carbon deposits in the pistons and subsequent scratching of the heads. As far as I know the efficiency of the best inverter-battery-AC combo is around 60%? It cant be cheap than the hydroelectric power the state provides. Also this particular model can produce a peak power of 3000 VA and 2800 normally under load.Also it can provide that power for 6.9 hrs continuously. Hope I am clear

[Aroy]

Actually a Hybrid solution is the best option, provided you can afford it.
. Use an inverter for short outages, which means you need an inverter which will take care of all the load.
. Use a diesel generator to charge the battery, as and when it runs down. When the generator runs at its optimal load it consumes the least amount of fuel per KW of electricity generated, so the generator must be matched to the maximum used load + inverter charging load.