Did I damage my inverter battery?

[Heksmeester]

Thanks - will get one of those.

Quick question - This morning when I left for work, my power was off. It's not load shedding, so I'm not sure how long it will be down for.

Now apparently the inverter should always be plugged in as per the manufacturer. I'm presuming this is to keep it at full charge constantly. So I left it with the hopes that the electricity returns soon. I don't have anything drawing power from it currently apart from 2 monitors that are sleeping.

Assuming power does not return for the entire day - will the battery last until I get home to switch it off? Should I rather turn off the inverter when power supply is sketchy for the day?

 

[Lupus]

Thanks - will get one of those.

Quick question - This morning when I left for work, my power was off. It's not load shedding, so I'm not sure how long it will be down for.

Now apparently the inverter should always be plugged in as per the manufacturer. I'm presuming this is to keep it at full charge constantly. So I left it with the hopes that the electricity returns soon. I don't have anything drawing power from it currently apart from 2 monitors that are sleeping.

Assuming power does not return for the entire day - will the battery last until I get home to switch it off? Should I rather turn off the inverter when power supply is sketchy for the day?

Rather turn it off if you're not home and not needing it, especially if the batteries are suspect

 

[Heksmeester]

Rather turn it off if you're not home and not needing it, especially if the batteries are suspect

Battery is fine - it's the Eskom grid that's sketchy. I don't know if power will return before I get home, but I'm not drawing any load (2x monitors on standby mode).

 

[Lupus]

Battery is fine - it's the Eskom grid that's sketchy. I don't know if power will return before I get home, but I'm not drawing any load (2x monitors on standby mode).

That is about 6w ;-) so it's some load. I had my batteries go drawing on 29w :-( they were working on the DB board to hook up the new system and the mecer was on just powering the TV, decoder, router in standby mode which is about 29w and after 45 minutes the batteries were at 10%, thing was moaning like a banshee.

 

[itareanlnotani]

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!

To be far, they're lead acid. Looking at them sideways damages them.
Don't expose them to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight., no wait thats Gremlins. Ah yes, Dead Acid - Keep them charged up, don't discharge past 50% capacity at most, and if you're lucky you'll get a couple of years use.

 

[Lupus]

To be far, they're lead acid. Looking at them sideways damages them.
Don't expose them to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight., no wait thats Gremlins. Ah yes, Dead Acid - Keep them charged up, don't discharge past 50% capacity at most, and if you're lucky you'll get a couple of years use.

So when can you feed them? I mean technically you could only really feed them either after midday no?

 

[AlphaJohn]

Thanks - will get one of those.

Quick question - This morning when I left for work, my power was off. It's not load shedding, so I'm not sure how long it will be down for.

Now apparently the inverter should always be plugged in as per the manufacturer. I'm presuming this is to keep it at full charge constantly. So I left it with the hopes that the electricity returns soon. I don't have anything drawing power from it currently apart from 2 monitors that are sleeping.

Maybe invest into one of thease:

Shelly 1PM

Shelly 1PM was created with an integrated WEB interface for device management and a secure over-the-air update. This device allows you to monitor the status and history, as well as the current and past electrical power consumption for the day, week, month or year.

www.robofactory.co.za

Else try and find another supplier of:

Smart Switches

www.robofactory.co.za

Or buy it already wired like

GeeWiz Wifi Smart Plug - SA 3 PIN 15A - REV 2 IOS Android (Works with Google Home and Amazon Echo) w/Electricity Monitor (Kill-a-watt watt meter) - SF 3500

Easily Manage Your Home Electronics and Appliances Anytime, Anywhere The Smart Plugs are easy to set up, and make it even easier to manage your household electronic devices

www.geewiz.co.za

Great for checking remotely if power is back and then use

https://www.robofactory.co.za/smart-switches/20-sonoff-basic-r2-smart-switch.html
on the inverter out to turn off equipment if power is off for to long.

Well granted that you home wifi still has power

I have above on my setup also added hassIO on a PI to get some neat overview of whats happening:

Assuming power does not return for the entire day - will the battery last until I get home to switch it off? Should I rather turn off the inverter when power supply is sketchy for the day?

If you have Lead Acid and none of the above turn off, drained batters = Dead batteries.
If you have LiFePO4 just leave it on. inverter cuts at 10-15%

 

[Heksmeester]

That is about 6w ;-) so it's some load. I had my batteries go drawing on 29w :-( they were working on the DB board to hook up the new system and the mecer was on just powering the TV, decoder, router in standby mode which is about 29w and after 45 minutes the batteries were at 10%, thing was moaning like a banshee.

How did they drain so fast though with such minimal load?

In my situation, I did a quick calculation. 100AH x 12V / 6W = 200 Hours. Theoretically, this should then take 200 hours before the batteries are drained. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

If you have Lead Acid and none of the above turn off, drained batters = Dead batteries.
If you have LiFePO4 just leave it on. inverter cuts at 10-15%

Thanks for the awesome product links. Will definitely check them out.

The inverter supposedly has deep-discharge protection so I'm assuming it's supposed to cut off the batteries before they drain completely?

 

[TheChamp]

How did they drain so fast though with such minimal load?

The batteries are clearly not in a good condition, they should easily handle the no load but on situation.

 

[AlphaJohn]

The inverter supposedly has deep-discharge protection so I'm assuming it's supposed to cut off the batteries before they drain completely?

Inverter cut off at 10-15%

You damage Lead Acid battery if you go bellow 100% (See cycle Life), the damage just increase the deeper you go, bellow 50% is irreversible

What is a Sulfated Battery and How To Prevent It - Power Sonic

A complete guide to sulfated batteries. What is a sulfated battery, and what is the best way to prevent it? Learn about sulfated batteries.

www.power-sonic.com

 

[Lupus]

How did they drain so fast though with such minimal load?

In my situation, I did a quick calculation. 100AH x 12V / 6W = 200 Hours. Theoretically, this should then take 200 hours before the batteries are drained. Correct me if I'm wrong though.



Thanks for the awesome product links. Will definitely check them out.

The inverter supposedly has deep-discharge protection so I'm assuming it's supposed to cut off the batteries before they drain completely?

Lead acid batteries are tricksy things, if you don't have the right temps, the right discharge and charge curves, if you charge them too quickly, if you discharge them to 40% and and. They require so much and sacrifice I would think they were one of my kids.

 

[joker08]

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?

It doesnt display on the inverter. After the battery got damaged I scanned through the user guides and found out that the cutoff is at 10v.
But u can install a separate volt meter, they are cheap and better to have it then run your batter. . Something like this

DSN-VC288 / 200033 - PANEL MOUNT DIGITAL DISPLAY 100V/ 10A METER

Mantech Electronics is an Electronic Component, Test and Measurement, Tool and Power Product Importer, Supplier and Distributor. Products are available from any one of our branches and distributors in JHB, DBN and CPT. We are committed to helping you succeed.!

www.mantech.co.za