[Raccoon]

SF is an Exide brand... so if I were you, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. However, to be entirely honest, haven't had any personal experience with SF. If you are not much in the know about Exide quality, please look at other threads on the topic.

We have an Amaron inverter battery going great for over 4.5 years. Another good option would be Base Terminal.

As for the inverter, we have Sukam. For the comp I have APC UPS and in turn its connected to the inverter so I get a much longer back up time.

The SuKam however recently burnt its MOSFETs. The technicain said its caused due to overloading. When the power goes, once in a rare while the load of higher wattage devices like steam iron, etc., have been put on the inverter for a few seconds. But then the inverter is supposed to cut the power gracefully, which it apparently didn't. Had to pay about Rs. 400 (approx) to get it fixed.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Zappo

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.

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.

Zappo, that was very helpful. How long since you bought this setup? Also, how has the after-sales experiences been, if any?

Staying in a rented house myself, i may also opt not to fiddle with the wiring. Sorry to sound ignorant, but does charging take place even with the inverter switched off?

Originally Posted by Raccoon

SF is an Exide brand... so if I were you, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. However, to be entirely honest, haven't had any personal experience with SF. If you are not much in the know about Exide quality, please look at other threads on the topic.

We have an Amaron inverter battery going great for over 4.5 years. Another good option would be Base Terminal.

While i have read about Exide woes on varous threads on the forum when it comes to car batteries, based on my findings from various distributors, many of them try to push the Exide brand.

Between, my doubt still hasnt been cleared... is the SF Power Box tubular or flat plate?

I really appreciate the responses from all you guys.. i would be finalizing my choice by the weekend, so wanted to gather as much as i could.

[rishab.k]

He is right, if the power comes to the UPS first and then goes to the MCB.

@ Rocky
No,the power first comes to the mains.He had told me that the connection has been done in such a way that in case of a power cut the whole house will draw power from the inverter except the power plugs.He has connected the inverter cord to the same power plug as the fridge so in case of power cut the fridge switches off but I have found that all other power plugs start drawing from the inverter which is dangerous since you never know when you may be using an iron or a mixer at the time of a power cut & that load will immediately transfer to the inverter.
The good(bad according to my Mom) part is that the transfer is so smooth that its not even noticeable except for those 5 beeps which obviously are not audible in all the rooms so my Mom only realizes that there is a power cut when she finds the fridge switched off.

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.

@ Prowler
Though mine is not an inexpensive one but I am still worried about that.

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.

I realized that too.This sound is more audible when battery is charging (& also in case of a power cut when the inverter is converting DC to AC) but goes down when battery is not charging.

Rishab, how much did the setup cost you?

@ Benbsb29
I got the Luminous inverter for 5300/- & the Hyundai tubular battery for 8500/- .I had agreed to pay 14000/- including the 400/- for installation but paid slightly less since he did not do any wiring.I didn't take the trolley(which would have cost me 550/-) as I was anyway going to keep the inverter & the battery in the store room.

And yes, being a pure Sine Wave setup I use my laptop and modem also with this supply.

@ Zappo
If you have checked the back of your Luminous inverter you will find a switch for regulated & unregulated UPS mode.When in regulated UPS mode you can easily use your computer without any worries as in this case if the power supply is not between 180-260 V the inverter will will cut off the mains supply & start supplying power.It may not be safe to use the computer in unregulated UPS mode(100-285 V).
I even experienced this yesterday when I got a bit confused since my fridge was working whereas everything else was running on inverter.Then I realized that the fridge was still drawing power from the mains supply but since the voltage had gone down marginally, inverter had kicked in for everything else.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Staying in a rented house myself, i may also opt not to fiddle with the wiring. Sorry to sound ignorant, but does charging take place even with the inverter switched off?

Not sure about this, as our inverter is always switched on. It would depend on how the thing is built... maybe some do charge and some dont. As for our Su Kam, there is a LED indicator which indicates when the battery is being charged.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

While i have read about Exide woes on varous threads on the forum when it comes to car batteries, based on my findings from various distributors, many of them try to push the Exide brand.

Between, my doubt still hasnt been cleared... is the SF Power Box tubular or flat plate?

I really appreciate the responses from all you guys.. i would be finalizing my choice by the weekend, so wanted to gather as much as i could.

Distributor/dealer is the last person you should be asking for advice. They will advice whatever that gives them better profit, and/or is in stock with them, etc. Whatever you buy, just avoid Exide, Amco... and I guess even SF (since its Exide). They are the worst of the lot.

Sorry, dunno if SF is rubular or flat plate.

Be very careful with inverters and UPSs too. A lot of people end up with lemons there too. APC is perhaps the safest bet... next Su Kam...

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Staying in a rented house myself, i may also opt not to fiddle with the wiring. Sorry to sound ignorant, but does charging take place even with the inverter switched off?

Not sure about this, as our inverter is always switched on. It would depend on how the thing is built... maybe some do charge and some dont. As for our Su Kam, there is a LED indicator which indicates when the battery is being charged.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

While i have read about Exide woes on varous threads on the forum when it comes to car batteries, based on my findings from various distributors, many of them try to push the Exide brand.

Between, my doubt still hasnt been cleared... is the SF Power Box tubular or flat plate?

I really appreciate the responses from all you guys.. i would be finalizing my choice by the weekend, so wanted to gather as much as i could.

Distributor/dealer is the last person you should be asking for advice. They will advice whatever that gives them better profit, and/or is in stock with them, etc. Whatever you buy, just avoid Exide, Amco... and I guess even SF (since its Exide). They are the worst of the lot.

Sorry, dunno if SF is rubular or flat plate.

Be very careful with inverters and UPSs too. A lot of people end up with lemons there too. APC is perhaps the safest bet... next Su Kam...

[tanwaramit]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Staying in a rented house myself, i may also opt not to fiddle with the wiring. Sorry to sound ignorant, but does charging take place even with the inverter switched off?

Yes, charging takes place even when the inverter is switched OFF. So in that case, when there is electricity and you have switched OFF your inverter.

1. Your battery will charge
2. All the appliance will run on direct electricity.

[Rocky_Balboa]

Originally Posted by rishab.k

I have found that all other power plugs start drawing from the inverter which is dangerous since you never know when you may be using an iron or a mixer at the time of a power cut & that load will immediately transfer to the inverter.

The good(bad according to my Mom) part is that the transfer is so smooth that its not even noticeable except for those 5 beeps which obviously are not audible in all the rooms so my Mom only realizes that there is a power cut when she finds the fridge switched off.

Rishab,
Your posts seem conflicting. The first one seem to suggest that all the power plugs are on the 5A circuit, whereas the second suggests fridge isnt.

It depends upon Your home wiring, I suggest You get a good electrician and ensure that all power plugs are in the 15A circuit.

[Prowler]

It is essential that you isolate the power points which feed your electrical appliances like water heater, mixie(kitchen blender), vacuum cleaners and iron boxes from the inverter. Water heaters require 15 A power points which is easy as they will have their own MCB/fuse. But iron boxes and mixie will work off 5 A supply points which may share the same lighting section MCB/fuse to which the Inverter may have been connected. Check this out.

The easiest way to blow your inverter is to connect a mixie. Mixies or Kitchen Blenders use an universal motor which introduces severe pulsed load that will quickly damage your inverter. Whatever you do - make sure that power supply points are never connected to Inverter circuit. Servants will not know the difference between a regular mains power supply and the supply provided by an inverter.

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

Rishab,
Your posts seem conflicting. The first one seem to suggest that all the power plugs are on the 5A circuit, whereas the second suggests fridge isnt.

It depends upon Your home wiring, I suggest You get a good electrician and ensure that all power plugs are in the 15A circuit.

Let me explain it to you.
The installation guy had checked all the loads connected to the various MCBs & then as per what he told me he had separated the 15 A power plugs circuit and connected the rest of the house through the inverter.This way in case of a power cut except for the 15 A power plugs the rest of the house would draw power from the inverter.This he demonstrated to me by switching off the mains in which case the fridge got switched off & the inverter started suppling power to the rest of the house.
At that time, I assumed that like the fridge all the other appliances connected to 15 A will also switch off but later I found that except for the fridge all the 15 A plugs start drawing from the inverter.Does it have anything to do with the fact that he has connected the inverter to the same 15A plug to which the fridge is connected?
Though I am not living in a rented house ,I don't want to go in for separate wiring & have wires all over the place.
Also, although Zappo's idea ,of keeping the inverter switched off & swithcing it on after ensuring all the heavy load appliances are switched off, is a good one I wouldn't want to do it especially while I am asleep.

[rishab.k]

Originally Posted by Prowler

It is essential that you isolate the power points which feed your electrical appliances like water heater, mixie(kitchen blender), vacuum cleaners and iron boxes from the inverter.

Except for one 15 A plug in the kitchen all other 15 A plugs in my house have a separate circuit that's why I didn't bother to check all other 15 A plugs & assumed that they will also switch off when I saw the fridge switch off.

[Rocky_Balboa]

Rishab,

Its clear now and has nothing to do with the way the invertor is connected.

As Prowler said.
I guess Your electrician has wired Your house (at construction) as - 15A circuit only for fridge and rest power plugs on the 5A circuit. If so, you would have to change this immediately. Though iron boxes/mixies can run on 5A circuit, its a huge load on the circuits and a disaster for the invertor.

Changing all the power plugs from 5A to 15A, depends upon your house wiring. I am sure its easy to route a 15A wire from the nearest circuit board for all the power plugs. Atleast in the kitchen, where the Fridge and mixie circuits are near (hopefully).

I had my house in a similar stage and though the electrician claimed its impossible, he did it after I gave him some peaceful words.

[benbsb29]

Is there anyone who has been using the APC quasi-sine wave inverter to power a home PC? Would appreciate feedback on the same.

[tj123]

[FONT=Arial]APC quasi-sine wave inverter is not the best available in the market.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial] Quasi sine are not pure sine wave inverters hence you fans , tube lights will humm when on inverter power.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Besides this type of wave form is detrimental to the health of all house hold appliances having electronics circuitry. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]The life of electronic equipment will certainly go down for sure.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]In my opinion go for a pure sine wave inverter along with good tubular battery.
[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Sukam falcon 800 va is a good option as it is compact & sleek.[/FONT]

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by tj123

Sukam falcon 800 va is a good option as it is compact & sleek.

Hey I have same Sukam Falcon 800VA inverter for last 3 years. It was absolutely trouble free in these days. Since one month I observed that cooling fan inside inverter does not get switched off automatically. Earlier it used to run for few minutes and then switch off automatically upon cooling.

What could be the problem? Any idea? Working of inverter and charger absolutely fine.

[rishab.k]

"Every three months battery should be disconnected from the inverter & bench charged with a constant current."
I found this written on the battery.What does this mean?Do I have to completely drain out the battery once in a few months to keep it in good health?