[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by drashkum

Thank you. I had a conversation with couple of dealers here. One dealer deals with Luminous Lifemax tall tubular 150ah battery with 60months replacement warranty and 15 months pro-rata warranty. He is willing to take my old battery for 3k and the whole package costs Rs.13500. I have always used Exide IT500 in my inverters. Any feed back on this battery against IT500?

I am also in searching of replacement Battery in 150 Ah. Currently I am using Sukam 150 Ah and it's drained a lot and warrant for a replacement.

Checked some batteries from Exide, Luminous and Amaron. Su Kam is out of business is what i heard from most of the dealers and Exite Insta Brite Flat Plate type is available for Rs. 9500 with exchange of old battery.

check this:
http://www.batterybhai.com/search_in...eeler_Inner=12

Looking for 150 Ah Tubular battery with economical cost

[ritz3645]

Greetings,

In my previous post on this thread, have had terrible results with flat plate for my Inverter.
Twice have lost the Amaron flat plate.

Post moving to a local tall tubular battery, same battery is going strong even after 3 years of use and still has plenty years of life.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Luminous inverters have an iffy reputation ...

I've posted about the smoky failure of mine, and the subsequent malfunction, but it seems that it was sufficient, that time, to threaten it with an engineer's visit. It has been ok since then. But hey, it's still only about six months old

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

I am also in searching of replacement Battery in 150 Ah. Currently I am using Sukam 150 Ah and it's drained a lot and warrant for a replacement. Looking for 150 Ah Tubular battery with economical cost

I'd advise you to reconsider buying flat plate batteries. Tall tubular/tubular batteries will provide much better service and last longer.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I've posted about the smoky failure of mine, and the subsequent malfunction, but it seems that it was sufficient, that time, to threaten it with an engineer's visit. It has been ok since then. But hey, it's still only about six months old

Well, 6 months isn't much. Your inverter is still in the honeymoon period

Jokes aside, I hope it lasts. Now that Su-Kam is reputedly shutting down per the post below I'd like to have an option to replacing my Sukam 1.5 KVA sine wave unit with a more powerful for e.g. a 2 or 2.5 kVA unit. My experience with Microtek hasn't been too encouraging.

[aks_karthik]

Originally Posted by R2D2

I'd advise you to reconsider buying flat plate batteries. Tall tubular/tubular batteries will provide much better service and last longer.

Thanx R2D2.
I have been using Su Kam Tubular 150 Ah for last 4.5 years and planning for tubular only.
Almost all tubular battery 150 Ah are coated upward of 10K with exchanging old battery.
Started bargaining with near by dealers and BatteryBhai.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by R2D2

... Now that Su-Kam is reputedly shutting down

I didn't know that! What's going on here? I would have thought that inverters were almost as much a fixture of Indian homes as ceiling fans and "mixies." What happened to the market: did electricity supply become that much more reliable?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I didn't know that! What's going on here? I would have thought that inverters were almost as much a fixture of Indian homes as ceiling fans and "mixies." What happened to the market: did electricity supply become that much more reliable?

Well, that's news that I got to know after reading BHPian aks_karthik's post. To quote:

Originally Posted by aks_karthik

Su Kam is out of business is what i heard from most of the dealers...

As for electricity supply, in the larger cities of MH it's mostly uninterrupted with some instances of blackouts on Thursdays which is supposedly the day the SEB reserves for maintenance in and around Pune. Mumbai of course has supply 24x7x365 and probably the best city in the country insofar as stable (voltage, frequency) and continuous electricity supply is concerned. It is truly a benchmark and the closest we can get to western standards of power supply in India.

All this is fine, but the price per kWh has gone up big time in the past few years. The last revision being in Apr '17. At my current consumption slab specified on the bill (slab is 300-500 units/month) I pay ₹9.75/unit, and with residences consuming >1000 units/month paying over ₹12/unit. This puts a serious dent in the home budget. I wait for the day when private players will be allowed to supply power to consumers in the rest of MH. The SEB needs competition just as BSNL/MTNL did for telephony. Mumbai consumers have multiple choices - BEST, Reliance and Tata Power.

On top of this running an inverter doesn't come for free. It pulls quite a bit of AC power (guesstimate is about 1-1.25A when bulk charging and float charging probably consumes approx 0.1A/24W, 24x7 till the next blackout.

Once again these are just guestimates and I must use my clamp meter and measure how much the inverter actually consumes.

[drashkum]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I've posted about the smoky failure of mine, and the subsequent malfunction, but it seems that it was sufficient, that time, to threaten it with an engineer's visit. It has been ok since then. But hey, it's still only about six months old

I am retaining my old sukam shiny. Just that i am tempted with Luminous tall tubular battery lifemax 150ah as it has 75 months warranty (60 months replacement + 15 pro-rata). Exide has downgraded the warranty of IT500 from 48 to 42 and despite my best efforts to top up my old IT500, it has conked off just a month after warranty expired.

So iam in a dilemma to choose Luminous Lifemax 150ah (60 months warranty) vs IT500 (42 months) vs Exide gel magic (48 months). The last one is a choice purely because of my laziness

https://www.luminouseshop.com/produc...SABEgLstvD_BwE

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by R2D2

On top of this running an inverter doesn't come for free. It pulls quite a bit of AC power (guesstimate is about 1-1.25A when bulk charging and float charging probably consumes approx 0.1A/24W, 24x7 till the next blackout.

This is true and it compounds as the battery gets older. My monthly electricity bill was growing over the past months and found that the inverter was drawing constant current trying to keep the battery at float charge. The battery was 7 year old Exide and it was having trouble crossing 13V. Replaced it yesterday with Exide Instabrite 135AH.

Found this note on the new battery. What could be the reason for recommendation?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by bejoy

This is true and it compounds as the battery gets older. My monthly electricity bill was growing over the past months and found that the inverter was drawing constant current trying to keep the battery at float charge. The battery was 7 year old Exide and it was having trouble crossing 13V. Replaced it yesterday with Exide Instabrite 135AH.

Voltage not increasing over 13V shows a plate short/fault and even sulphation.

So this is the way it goes - when battery voltage does not taper off at approx. 12.66 VDC and/or cannot float charge at 13.2-13.8 VDC charger continues to try and increase voltage, in an endless loop which over time increases mains power consumption. It generally results in the battery heating up.

Found this note on the new battery. What could be the reason for recommendation?

Probably refers to an equalisation charge although this is normally recommended every 6-12 months at a constant voltage (not amps) of approx. 15.8 VDC.

This higher voltage helps the battery break and dissolve sulphate crystals off the plates, and the gas mixes the electrolyte (sulphuric acid and water) which gets stratified over time in large stationary batteries. This step is also called reconditioning programs in some 'smart' microprocessor controlled battery chargers.

[aks_karthik]

Finally have bought Exide InvaMaster 150Ah for 11.3K at BatteryBhai.
http://www.batterybhai.com/inverter-...961/1/2/150/12
Have checked with many near by dealers and no one has matched the price with BatteryBhai.
Free Home Delivery and Installation. Power House from Adyar is the dealer and person from this dealer has delivered and installed it.
I have registered the new battery at Exide site itself and has paperless warranty for 3 years free of cost.
Hope this battery will survive for years as I wish 😎

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Probably refers to an equalisation charge although this is normally recommended every 6-12 months at a constant voltage (not amps) of approx. 15.8 VDC.

Back in the day... well, more like back in my dad's day (pre-alternator, etc) it was important to have a battery charger at home. Being unable to start the car on frosty mornings and all that. In more recent decades, when I have been caught out by car-battery failure, it has been out on the road anyway. And it has been end of life for a previously completely reliable battery.

But, would it be worth keeping a charger for inverter, and even car, batteries, that can do this sort of reconditioning? Would it be expensive?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

But, would it be worth keeping a charger for inverter, and even car, batteries, that can do this sort of reconditioning? Would it be expensive?

Well, 'expensive' is a relative term Thad. So I'll refer you to what I believe is a modern microprocessor charger easily available in India and which does reconditioning albeit as an automatic program. The recond. step cannot be set manually.

Bosch C7

You can buy them it here

Bosch C7

The Bosch C3 does not have this recond. feature. There are other options which you could consider:

a) CTEK MXS 5

b) CTEK MXS 10

c) CTEK Home Page

The CTEK chargers are expensive but considered top of the heap and are supplied as OEM charging solutions for many EU luxury marques. You are likely to get them cheaper in Ol' Blighty or Continental EU. These chargers are compatible with nearly all batteries except Li and can desulphate and recondition batteries, the former program is automatic and latter program can be set manually.

Having purchased and used several automatic and semi automatic chargers I'd recommend the Bosch to begin with & budget permitting the CTEK. And having owned these chargers there's no way I'd be without one at home and in the car.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by R2D2

when battery voltage does not taper off at approx. 12.66 VDC and/or cannot float charge at 13.2-13.8 VDC charger continues to try and increase voltage, in an endless loop which over time increases mains power consumption. It generally results in the battery heating up.

Can a lack of battery heat indicate a healthy battery?

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Can a lack of battery heat indicate a healthy battery?

If a battery feels warm (little over body temperature) but not unusually hot to the touch it is ok. This is assuming its not installed in a hot environment (exposed to the Sun's rays etc) and the charging voltage is as per specs.