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Well, the Amaron Shield we are using is about 4.5 years old, if I recall right. Have never checked more than once a year, approx. And again as far as I can recall, it has only been topped up about 3 times till now.

Raccoon; Do you have frequent power cuts there in Poona. As I said it is advisible to check the water every 3 months, it all depends on the charging and discharge cycle. Please tell me how much backup you are getting.

Thanks

The life-span of the battery has seen very frequent power cuts and also fairly infrequent power cuts. But as I mentioned, I'v never bothered to check on it more than once a year.

I haven't timed the back up recently. Problem is, in the family, lights/fans/tv get swithed off/on... so its difficult to estimate. While the back up time must have declined, its pretty much still decent and a boon in summers.

My electricity bill has gone up significantly in last 2-3 months, and since I have not added any new gadgets, I am suspecting my inverter. Is there any way I can confirm whether the battery is demanding excessive charging? My inverter has a single LED for AC mains on/Charging...

I think an inverter will consume at least 2 units a day, though I am not sure where I read that figure.

A fully discharged battery will take about 1 unit of current to fully charge. After than it mostly uses trickle charge, which would not add significantly to the power bill.

You might be having some problem with the charging circuit. If there is no full charge cut off, then the inverter will go on charging. You can check it easily if this is the problem. your battery will be hot with constant charging, and the water will dry off pretty fast (in 2 or 3 days).

If the above is not the case, then the inverter is working fine. Look for any short circuit or loose contact in your wiring, especially the sockets.

How exactly do i conclude by looking at the float that the inverter battery needs a top-up? There are two red lines and the indicator of the float is currently somewhere in between.

Between, the battery is a SF Sonic, and was bought in August 2009.

Dont always trust the float. I have seen many damaged batteries just because the float gets struck and there is no water in the cell. the two red lines are the upper and lower limits. The upper red line is the maximum water you can pour inside (a little bit extra is not a problem, but there are chances of spilling when charging or when you are closing the vent)

The lower red line is the minimum level of water to be maintained. The water level maybe about 0.5 cm from the plate at this point(mainly it depends on battery). You should maintain the float above this red line. Top up the battery when the float reaches near this point. Always check all the cells when toping up water irrespective of what the float is showing.

Thanks Chipz. I shall check and top up, if required.

Hi Guys. I'm getting the Invaqeen from Exide(fully tubular) for rs.10800(150ah) and 11500 (165ah). The guarantee is 3.5 yrs. + 6 months as prorata. Do you think its a good deal. Please forgive if this has already been discussed, but I really dont have time today to go through all the pages and have to finalize the battery and invertor today itself. My invertor wala says that exide is going strong as far as tubular batteries are concerned. Open to any suggestions.

Thanks Chipz! I will check this out. I remember the battery gulping a lot of water (3+ lit) the last time I topped it up.

Guys suggest me a good inverter and the estimated cost, cant bare the power cuts anymore:(

@lohithrao, you can get much information on inverter at "Inverter or generator?"

When we were getting inverter for our house, some 4 yrs ago, I went through all the books and online resources on battery sizing calculations, and came up with some big capacity figures. I wanted a 24V system, as it is more efficient than a 12V system.

But, seeing the cost of the batteries and the inverter, my father just ignored my calculations, and went in for one 12V, 120AH battery. The inverter itself was a local assembled one and the battery was from exide. It is still working fine and providing good back up times. We have all light fixtures fitted with CFL's.

isidhn; in my recollection invaqueen is a semitubular, so is invared.

the true tubular from exide is the EL series. The second in line is the IT 500.

Invaqueen has a 3.5 year guarantee, but it is writte in the warranty card that it is for ups purpose only. It will be a headache if you want replacement when using with an inverter.

Dont make a rush in this case if you want peace of mind for the next few years.

My Sukam lead-acid battery has finally gone kaput after almost 4.5 years of use and after reading the forums, I have decided on Amaron Shield as my inverter is placed bang in the middle of our living room and dont want to go in for another lead-acid battery.
Sukam says that it has only a 160AH semi tubular batt for Rs. 9900 available. Can anyone suggest a good place to buy Amaron Shield in Bangalore for my Sukam inverter? Thanks!!