[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Goodness, <1 litre? Wow, your batteries hardly consume water that's very good. My Exide "guzzlers" take about 2-3 litres for a quarterly topup.

BTW did you check how water was remaining in the battery before topping up? As long as the plates were covered you're good.

I opened each indicators and was filling small quantities of water (Around 50-100ml) at a time through a funnel and then putting the indicators back again & repeating. Ideally the float indicators should be in the middle of both lines, but I overfilled them till the top line as showed in the pic so that I don't need to refill in the near future.

[R2D2]

An update - I had a proactive replacement of my inverter batteries done. The Exides were very much functional though not operating at peak efficiency drawing quite a bit of power to charge up resulting in inflated energy bills as shared earlier.

Well, it so happens that the IT750 ie the 200 AH Invatubular batteries are not being manufactured and there's no stock in the Company..checked with 2 dealers and both confirmed this. They're available online but I was sceptical of receiving old stock. As an option I was offered the Exide IMTT2000 200AH which is the Invamaster that I held in consideration when both dealers told me to consider the Luminous 220 AH batteries that were at a slightly lower price than the IT750s that I had.

Kept an open mind and was informed these are 'low maintenance' batteries requiring a top up every 6 months or thereabouts that too in heavy load shedding areas. That clinched the deal because, TBH, it was getting to be a pain to top of DW in the IT750s every 2.5-3 months. And @samfromindia's feedback on TBHP was helpful (thanks man) & convinced me.

So the dealer sold me a the ILTT 26060 220AH batteries. I have realistic expectations from this set @ 5-7 years and not expecting the same extended life span as that of the Exides. These offer a 36 month replacement guarantee and 24 month prorata while the IT750s are now 48 month replacement and 18 prorata translating to a better warranty coverage by Exide.

So here's to a new journey!

[rakesh_r]

Is anyone using Inverters that are capable to run refrigerators? Reason to ask, Pune or atleast where i reside is experiencing lot of power outages, sometimes I am left with no power for straight 7-8 hours. In summers, there is a risk of food stuff to get spoilt. I would be happy if I get to run the refrigerator for atleast 2-3 hours, or am I asking too much?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Is anyone using Inverters that are capable to run refrigerators? Reason to ask, Pune or atleast where i reside is experiencing lot of power outages, sometimes I am left with no power for straight 7-8 hours. In summers, there is a risk of food stuff to get spoilt. I would be happy if I get to run the refrigerator for atleast 2-3 hours, or am I asking too much?

What area of Pune do you reside in?

Load shedding is normal during summers - higher demand and lower power production caused by dropping water levels in the dams. I am not experiencing blackouts of long durations like you are but they are relatively frequent and of about 5-10 minute duration.

Check this one: Luminous iCruze 3000+ Pure Sine Wave 2800VA/24V Inverter

Do note it requires 2 batteries and you may require at least 150AH batteries preferably 200 or 220AH to run a fridge for a reasonable period of time. This depends on the size and power consumption of the fridge. Check the specs and inverter models consume less and have lower start up currents.

I am considering it too as a replacement for my decade old 1.5 KVA Microtek that worked really well when paired with the old Exides.

Mods - Please excuse the minor typos in last night's post.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Refrigerator compressors have motors in them, and if they cut off to regulate temperature, require high start up current. An inverter might not change over to back up mode quick enough, so the motor likely shuts down during change overs. So make sure the inverter is rated for the start up current required by the compressor. A typical 250-275 l refrigerator will take around 0.75-0.90 units of power per 24 hours.

A 250 watt rated device, for example, operating at 230 volts thus takes little over one amp current, but at start up, will require around 2-3 A current.

A higher battery capacity also means more charging current. Keep these things (peak current requirement, charging current of battery and change over speed) in mind while specifying your inverter.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Refrigerator compressors have motors in them, and if they cut off to regulate temperature, require high start up current. An inverter might not change over to back up mode quick enough, so the motor likely shuts down during change overs. So make sure the inverter is rated for the start up current required by the compressor. A typical 250-275 l refrigerator will take around 0.75-0.90 units of power per 24 hours.

A 250 watt rated device, for example, operating at 230 volts thus takes little over one amp current, but at start up, will require around 2-3 A current.

A higher battery capacity also means more charging current. Keep these things (peak current requirement, charging current of battery and change over speed) in mind while specifying your inverter.

If it is the normal fridge, then you have to factor in the starting current. That is quite a load on inverter.

If it is an inverter fridge, then the inverter of 25% more capacity will do.

On a lighter vein, if your fridge is old, consider replacing it with an inverter fridge. Not only does that consume less power, but it also inverter friendly.

Regarding capacity of inverter, calculate as follows

. Battery AH. 200AH at 12V is 2.4 KVAH, that is a load of 2.4KVA will last 1 hour.

. Inverter efficiency. Most are 80-85% efficiency, that is derate the capacity by this value.

. Battery discharge rate. AH ratings are for 10 hours discharge rate, that is 200AH capacity is valid if the battery is discharged over 10 hours, that is 20AH per hour. Shorter time requires derating upto 60% for 2 hours

For example for 1 KVA load and 6 hours, the battery capacity is

1 x 6 x 1/.85 x 1/.8 = 8.8 KVAH (.85 efficiency, and .8 derating for 6 hours)

That is 3.7 or 4 200AH batteries.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

@Aroy - that is certainly useful.
When a battery is 80% drained, (in most cases) the inverters deep discharge protection kicks in. How is that factored in on your calculation? Honestly, I'm struggling to understand the C ratings of batteries. Your explanation helps. Appreciate that.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

@Aroy - that is certainly useful.
When a battery is 80% drained, (in most cases) the inverters deep discharge protection kicks in. How is that factored in on your calculation? Honestly, I'm struggling to understand the C ratings of batteries. Your explanation helps. Appreciate that.

https://www.power-sonic.com/wp-conte...cal-Manual.pdf

This should answer most questions

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by R2D2

What area of Pune do you reside in?

Charholi Budruk, closer to Dhanori.

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

Refrigerator compressors have motors in them, and if they cut off to regulate temperature, require high start up current.

That's something I didnt think off, many thanks for the pointers.

Originally Posted by Aroy

If it is the normal fridge, then you have to factor in the starting current. That is quite a load on inverter.

If it is an inverter fridge, then the inverter of 25% more capacity will do.

On a lighter vein, if your fridge is old, consider replacing it with an inverter fridge. Not only does that consume less power, but it also inverter friendly.

Mine is a 10 year old 300L Samsung Inverter unit. Thanks for clearing my doubt.

How Inverter friendly are BLDC ceiling fans? Heard they have lower power consumption.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

How Inverter friendly are BLDC ceiling fans? Heard they have lower power consumption.

Yes. The Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor without load consumes about 10 VA while a normal fan without load consumes about 30 VA. But under load (with the fan blades fitted) the consumption typically is 30 VA against about 60 VA. But if the blades accumulate dust, the load increases and the consumption rises by about 10-20 VA in both cases.

The starting current for the normal fan is high as you can expect with induction motors - a point if your inverter has to supply many fans.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by R2D2

As an option I was offered the Exide IMTT2000 200AH which is the Invamaster that I held in consideration when both dealers told me to consider the Luminous 220 AH batteries that were at a slightly lower price than the IT750s that I had.

These offer a 36 month replacement guarantee and 24 month prorata while the IT750s are now 48 month replacement and 18 prorata translating to a better warranty coverage by Exide.

Replaced my 8-year old Exide Boss with the new Exide IMTT2000 Invamaster a couple days back as well. My electrician had suggested Luminous at 16,500/- but the battery dealer whom I visited recommended the Invamaster for the same reason - longer warranty (36 months vs 18 months) and easier maintenance.



The Invamaster cost 16,000/-. The Boss went for a buyback of 3,500/-.

[WorkingGuru]

4 years back we bought a Luminous inverter for my office based on our good experience with their earlier inverter set up at my home ~6 yrs back.

The new one developed issues within 15 months. The display got spoilt, the battery needed replacement (was a harrowing experience with the technician since he absconded with the battery and after a month of following up with the cops, I had to involve a police constable (for some cost) to pressure them to give me my replacement battery, only to receive a different smaller model of Tall Tubular battery.

Following this, the socket at the back was spoilt - which caused a loose connection which led to flickering. Switched off the inverter. Called the company technician to replace the socket and acid-charge the battery, but the guy said the acid level was fine and simply switched it to direct mode after reconnecting and asked me to let the battery charge. Didn't change the socket despite my repeated requests. Battery never really charges back, and flickering continued, so took the unit to my local guy who confirmed the unit still works despite the faulty display, and changed the socket. He recommended a new Amaron Tall Tubular battery with 54 (30+24) month warranty if acid change + Recharge doesn't work.

Obviously he wants to push the new battery, but I've asked for acid recharge for now. Hope luminous improves their support - if it wasn't for their representatives cheatfulness & technicians incompetence, this bad experience could've been avoided.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Acid change/recharge... Do they do that?

There was a time, before car batteries were sealed units, that people owned hydrometers to test the specific gravity of the fluid. At least, some people did: my dad had one. I haven't thought of it for years: it looks like a baster with a float inside it. I see that they are inexpensive on Amazon.

If someone is going to recommend more/new acid, there should be an objective measure to confirm the necessity. I would have thought?

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

4 years back we bought a Luminous inverter for my office based on our good experience with their earlier inverter set up at my home ~6 yrs back.

The new one developed issues within 15 months. The display got spoilt, the battery needed replacement (was a harrowing experience with the technician since he absconded with the battery and after a month of following up with the cops, I had to involve a police constable (for some cost) to pressure them to give me my replacement battery, only to receive a different smaller model of Tall Tubular battery.

Sorry to hear about your experience. My unit is running fine for 3+ yrs:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...ml#post5544307 (Inverter Batteries)

however the display have faded a lot over the years and its hard to read the same in brightly lit up environment.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Sorry to hear about your experience. My unit is running fine for 3+ yrs ... ... ... however the display have faded a lot

After a rough start with two engineer visits, the second of whom essentially replaced the insides, ours has worked ok since 2016. Same problem: display is now useless.

I saw oh his card that the guy who came to work on my Polo AC also did batteries/inverters/etc. He filled our battery for us, and advised us that Luminous was known for this stuff. I found the times (for backup left and time to recharged) useful.

Will see about a different brand next time. But it's still working and I'm not in a hurry to replace it until it isn't.