[areddy]

Originally Posted by NPV

That's a good deal, Congratulations!
Would it be possible to give an approximate break up of the price for the inverter and the battery ? Will help me check with my local dealer as well (I had Amaron in mind, so now I will have another option to consider). Thanks in advance.

You also might want to check on Junglee for online prices of Inverters and UPS. I am looking at buying one and trying to decide on a brand that has good service. Any thoughts on the brands?

Its a 3 BHK place with typical appliances including a LED TV, WiFi modem, Laptop and an Ink Jet printer.

[S_U_N]

There are some tips on battery care here: http://www.su-kam.com/Pdf/Battery-Care.pdf

One tip which caught my attention is that we should discharge the battery completely every month.

Now, this is just the opposite to what APC customer care has told me for my APC UPS battery, where I am told the less discharging, the longer the battery life.

[Arch-Angel]

Typically, batteries should never be overcharged. This is what causes electrolyte quality to degrade sooner than expected and also hastens sulfation of the anode of a battery. Periodically discharging the battery to 10% and then recharging to full capacity will help in maintaining the battery.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by areddy

You also might want to check on Junglee for online prices of Inverters and UPS. I am looking at buying one and trying to decide on a brand that has good service. Any thoughts on the brands?

Its a 3 BHK place with typical appliances including a LED TV, WiFi modem, Laptop and an Ink Jet printer.

Just saw the online prices, I would still compare that with a local dealer and then decide
I already have a Su-Kam 800VA inverter so I need only a 150/180Ah tubular battery. I was contemplating Amaron CRST/CRTT 150 but have now decided on Su-Kam SBT1800 (180Ah).

You may want to read up some of the previous pages on this thread, here's a recent post (below) by @khoj which made me decide to go with Su-Kam itself since I already have the inverter of same brand (and I'm also buying the battery from same vendor). Thanks @khoj

Originally Posted by khoj

When buying an inverter follow the golden rule

1. Inverter and battery should be of the same make &

2. Both should be bought from the same vendor
.....

[areddy]

Originally Posted by NPV

Just saw the online prices, I would still compare that with a local dealer and then decide
I already have a Su-Kam 800VA inverter so I need only a 150/180Ah tubular battery. I was contemplating Amaron CRST/CRTT 150 but have now decided on Su-Kam SBT1800 (180Ah).

You may want to read up some of the previous pages on this thread, here's a recent post (below) by @khoj which made me decide to go with Su-Kam itself since I already have the inverter of same brand (and I'm also buying the battery from same vendor). Thanks @khoj

Completely agree. Why buy from an online players unless you are getting a better deal? Thanks for all the info Khoj.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

Typically, batteries should never be overcharged. This is what causes electrolyte quality to degrade sooner than expected and also hastens sulfation of the anode of a battery. Periodically discharging the battery to 10% and then recharging to full capacity will help in maintaining the battery.

Came across a product by Su-Kam called a battery equializer, they recommend it for Inverter -> multi-battery series setup to prevent overcharging the batteries.
Would this help prevent overcharging a single battery too ?

[Arch-Angel]

Originally Posted by NPV

Would this help prevent overcharging a single battery too ?

Hi NPV, as per their product description, it says any number of batteries. Since the product is supposed to periodically check connected batteries for voltage, i am 80% sure it will work for a single battery too.

[khoj]

No, it needs atleast two batteries, otherwise what is there to equalize. I quote from the document itself

Single equalizer can be used for at least 2 number of batteries and maximum for 4 number of batteries connected in series

Originally Posted by NPV

Came across a product by Su-Kam called a battery equalizer.
Would this help prevent overcharging a single battery too ?

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

Hi NPV, as per their product description, it says any number of batteries. Since the product is supposed to periodically check connected batteries for voltage, i am 80% sure it will work for a single battery too.

[Guite]

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

Typically, batteries should never be overcharged. Periodically discharging the battery to 10% and then recharging to full capacity will help in maintaining the battery.

Is there any meter to check battery charge level?

[sourav9385]

Hey fellas!

How do I make sure that my battery is not being overcharged? The inverter has an indicator on the front panel labeled "charge", that starts to blink after the battery was used. That I'm told indicates that the battery is being charged. After a while, depending on how long we used the inverter, the indicator stops blinking and becomes constant..

Does that mean that the battery is not being charged anymore? So should I turn the inverter off then, when it's not in use?

We leave home by 8:00 am everyday, and are not back till 6:00 - 7:00 pm on weekdays. Do you guys recommend keeping the setup plugged in, and turned on all the time then? Or should we disconnect it, and keep it plugged in only when we are at home? Won't the battery/inverter life be better that way? What do you guys recommend?

Gents, Please do share your thoughts on this.
Thanks! Cheers!

[aim120]

Even if the inverter stops the charge it will still be doing a float/trickle charge (a must for lead acid batteries).But if you can switch off the inverter completely then there won't be any harm since you are still switching it back On after 10hrs.But you will also be reducing the life of the On/OFF switch of the inverter by pressing it 2 times a day.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by aim120

But you will also be reducing the life of the On/OFF switch of the inverter by pressing it 2 times a day.

Do inverters normally use poor quality switches - asking because 2 times a day should not even be significant. Our fan switches handle 10 times a day for a lifetime.

[Arch-Angel]

Originally Posted by aim120

.But you will also be reducing the life of the On/OFF switch of the inverter by pressing it 2 times a day.

I am not exactly sure regarding inverter switch life. But the button type switches we have on inverters lasted us for a good 5 years(previous inverter) but the lesser we use the switch, the better.

Originally Posted by Guite

Is there any meter to check battery charge level?

My inverter can show the voltage info on its front lcd display. You can use a multimeter by setting it to dc voltage and measure the dc across the terminals. Be very careful while you deal with car batteries since they are known to deliver nasty shocks. Some inverters can be set to auto cut-off when battery reaches a certain voltage. I did remember seeing this somewhere but cannot recollect it. Most of the latest inverters, i assume, will have this setting.

Originally Posted by khoj

No, it needs atleast two batteries, otherwise what is there to equalize. I quote from the document itself

Hmm, the document says so. But i am not entirely certain that it will need a minimum of two batteries. Will try contacting SuKam and asking them about how it works.

[sourav9385]

Originally Posted by aim120

Even if the inverter stops the charge it will still be doing a float/trickle charge (a must for lead acid batteries).But if you can switch off the inverter completely then there won't be any harm since you are still switching it back On after 10hrs.But you will also be reducing the life of the On/OFF switch of the inverter by pressing it 2 times a day.

Righto. So here's what I normally do every morning before setting off to work.

The inverter is connected to a switch that allows us to select its usage.
If the switch is on, then the rooms wired for usage with the inverter will be getting the back up in case electricity supply fails.
If the switch is off, then the rooms do not get the power back up in case electricity supply fails.

So, as per the installation guys recommendation, we turn off that switch and then press the button on the inverter to disable auto mode.
We do this in the morning before leaving. So, when electricity goes off the inverter doesn't switch on.
When we come back in the evening, we turn on both the switches.
Thus re-enabling automatic switch over to the wired rooms.

Now comes the confusing part.
The daily 2 hour power shutdown in our area, happens between 8:00 AM & 6:00 PM.
So on the weekdays, we are never at home when the power shuts down.
So, the inverter is never going to be used during the weekdays, unless some irregular power outage occurs in the evening/night.
That's why I am thinking, is it really necessary to keep the inverter plugged in at times when we are not home?

If you are confused by this post, lemme know. I will try to post some pics of the setup for better explanation.
Thanks again! Cheers!

[aim120]

Like i said there won't be an issue since like you said you are also disabling the back up mode where the output stage is cut off.
But what i want to know is are the electronics in the inverter still active like the fans.

In my APC sine wave UPS when i push the power button in the UPS the output stage is cut OFF, where both the main line and back up is cut OFF .But the UPS is still running you can hear the fans running inside even if i switch off the input power to the UPS ,since the fans run via the battery so i have to hold the power button and it switches off completely you will hear the relay disconnecting and the fans stop.