Did I damage my inverter battery?

[Heksmeester]

Hello All,

I recently bought a trolley inverter with a 100AH lead-acid battery. When I came home, load shedding hit and I immediately put the inverter to use. It was only a few hours later that I watched a video from the manufacturer where they explained that the battery needs to be fully charged for 6-8 hours before the first use.

This piece of info was nowhere to be found in the instruction manual.

Today, the battery was fully charged and load shedding struck again. When "Backup Mode" kicked in on the inverter, the battery bar immediately indicated 3/4 bars as available capacity.

Did I damage the battery when I failed to fully charge it before first use?

Below is a link to the actual product:

https://www.takealot.com/lalela-hom...ley-ups-1-2kva-750w-high-quality/PLID90115597

Thanks in advance!

 

[TheChamp]

Nah, just keep it plugged so that it get its full charge, it doesn't make any difference.

 

[xumwun]

If you didnt drain the battery past 50% it will probably be fine.

 

[Lupus]

What are you powering? Lead acid are funny beasts and they can 'drop' a bar on the front panel with the load.
Ultimately it depends on how long it actually lasts.

 

[Lupus]

If you didnt drain the battery past 50% it will probably be fine.

Once or twice should be okay, though regular occurrence of that is a no no. I had a lot of fluctuations then load shedding lead acid batteries did not like it.

 

[Heksmeester]

What are you powering? Lead acid are funny beasts and they can 'drop' a bar on the front panel with the load.
Ultimately it depends on how long it actually lasts.

I was running a desktop with a load of about 160-170W. The front panel showed 3/4 bars available immediately when it switched to backup. This is what puzzles me as I would have expected it to show a full battery meter at least during the first hour or so.

 

[MirageF1]

3/4 bars is anything between 75 and 100%. So not very accurate. Initial load might well drop it to 90 or 95%.

My Mercer 2400VA has exactly the same 4 bar indicator. As others have pointed out I just wouldn't let the indicator go below 2/4 bars (25-50%) for any extended period with a LA battery.

 

[Barbarian Conan]

3/4 bars is anything between 75 and 100%. So not very accurate. Initial load might well drop it to 90 or 95%.

My Mercer 2400VA has exactly the same 4 bar indicator. As others have pointed out I just wouldn't let the indicator go below 2/4 bars (25-50%) for any extended period with a LA battery.

I kept an eye on my inverter and switched off the "high" power devices when I saw it hit 2/4 bars. You end up forgetting to check, and it reaches 1/4 a few times. Almost 2 years in and I couldn't power my fiber and mesh wifi for 2.5 hours before it drained during stage 4 load shedding. It could have been a bad batch of batteries as well.
Now I have a new battery, and with the 65" TV's backlight turned down we stay on 4 bars the entire 2 hours. I now also turn it off 30 min after I notice 3/4 bars. Not taking any chances.

 

[Lupus]

I was running a desktop with a load of about 160-170W. The front panel showed 3/4 bars available immediately when it switched to backup. This is what puzzles me as I would have expected it to show a full battery meter at least during the first hour or so.

Ah yeah mine does that on about 140 to 150w load, it's kept that going for 5 hours. So I wouldn't worry on that.

 

[Lupus]

I kept an eye on my inverter and switched off the "high" power devices when I saw it hit 2/4 bars. You end up forgetting to check, and it reaches 1/4 a few times. Almost 2 years in and I couldn't power my fiber and mesh wifi for 2.5 hours before it drained during stage 4 load shedding. It could have been a bad batch of batteries as well.
Now I have a new battery, and with the 65" TV's backlight turned down we stay on 4 bars the entire 2 hours. I now also turn it off 30 min after I notice 3/4 bars. Not taking any chances.

Ah they joys of lead acid batteries.

 

[MirageF1]

I kept an eye on my inverter and switched off the "high" power devices when I saw it hit 2/4 bars. You end up forgetting to check, and it reaches 1/4 a few times. Almost 2 years in and I couldn't power my fiber and mesh wifi for 2.5 hours before it drained during stage 4 load shedding. It could have been a bad batch of batteries as well.
Now I have a new battery, and with the 65" TV's backlight turned down we stay on 4 bars the entire 2 hours. I now also turn it off 30 min after I notice 3/4 bars. Not taking any chances.

What inverter? Could be a more accurate display panel.

Although being new battery and low power usage possibly means the initial load doesn't drop the voltage too much, hence the 4 bars in the beginning of LS'ing...

I thought the Mecer inverter gives a low power warning and shuts down, but that might be at 10% which is already way too late for lead acid.

Just checked the specs, seems way too low even for warning, by 20.4V the batteries are basically kaput.
I stand to be corrected.

BATTERY & AC CHARGER
Battery Voltage	12 VDC	24 VDC
Floating Charge Voltage	13.7 VDC ±2%	27.4 VDC ±2%
Low Battery Alarm Voltage	10.2Vdc ±2%	20.4Vdc ±2%
Shutdown Voltage	9.9Vdc ±2%	19.8Vdc ±2

 

[Heksmeester]

3/4 bars is anything between 75 and 100%. So not very accurate. Initial load might well drop it to 90 or 95%.

My Mercer 2400VA has exactly the same 4 bar indicator. As others have pointed out I just wouldn't let the indicator go below 2/4 bars (25-50%) for any extended period with a LA battery.

Noted, thank you. So basically, when it hits 1/4 bars then it's time to call it a day as this would be 25-50%?

Ah yeah mine does that on about 140 to 150w load, it's kept that going for 5 hours. So I wouldn't worry on that.

Thanks for the feedback. This is reassuring.

 

[joker08]

I still dont understand why these inverters allow lead a acid battery to drain below 12v.
The mercer inverter I had had a cutoff voltage of 10v!
And there is no way u can configure these inverters.
I was an idiot and damaged my batteries this way last year, I was lucky and makro gave me a replacement battery.
Sold of that inverter and battery as soon as I got the replacement.

 

[AlphaJohn]

I still dont understand why these inverters allow lead a acid battery to drain below 12v.
The mercer inverter I had had a cutoff voltage of 10v!
And there is no way u can configure these inverters.
I was an idiot and damaged my batteries this way last year, I was lucky and makro gave me a replacement battery.
Sold of that inverter and battery as soon as I got the replacement.

Agree that I wish there was a way to set the %

Disagree that it should auto cut as I run Lithium's on mine and would hate it if I could only use half my battery.

 

[Heksmeester]

I still dont understand why these inverters allow lead a acid battery to drain below 12v.
The mercer inverter I had had a cutoff voltage of 10v!
And there is no way u can configure these inverters.
I was an idiot and damaged my batteries this way last year, I was lucky and makro gave me a replacement battery.
Sold of that inverter and battery as soon as I got the replacement.

I'm curious to know where I can see the battery voltage? It doesn't seem to be displayed on the front panel. Do you need a voltage meter?

 

[Lupus]

I'm curious to know where I can see the battery voltage? It doesn't seem to be displayed on the front panel. Do you need a voltage meter?

You will yes

 

[Dan C]

I'm curious to know where I can see the battery voltage? It doesn't seem to be displayed on the front panel. Do you need a voltage meter?

You can invest in one of these. They also have the single ones.

National Luna Battery Monitor Double

Buy the National Luna Battery Monitor Double from National Luna online at outdoorwarehouse.co.za and get it delivered to your door. Many ways to pay & get instant savings on adventure gear with Outdoor Rewards.

www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za

 

[AlphaJohn]

I'm curious to know where I can see the battery voltage? It doesn't seem to be displayed on the front panel. Do you need a voltage meter?

Just hook up one of these:

Takealot

Back in my Lead acid days I use to run em cheapies, one per battery


Edit: see that one is out of stock can try:

Volt Meter Panel Mount LED Round Display 12 Volt

voltymeter with led display

4x4direct.co.za

Loads of em online

 

[Lupus]

Just hook up one of these:

Takealot

Back in my Lead acid days I use to run em cheapies, one per battery
View attachment 1311800

Edit: see that one is out of stock can try:

Volt Meter Panel Mount LED Round Display 12 Volt

voltymeter with led display

4x4direct.co.za

Loads of em online

Back in your LA days

 

[AlphaJohn]

Back in your LA days

Ok fine I still use one on my LFP but that's only cause the battery LCD is hard to see with cover on k