Maintaining UPS/car batteries

[a_n_memon88]

by replacement i meant battery replacement

[a_n_memon88]

I check battery electrolyte every week and currently all cells are dipped. I would also like to add that since july i am facing this problem of less backup but at that time the cutoff was set at 29v and my ups kept on charging 24/7 at that time there was 6 hrs loadshedding so no issue of over charging at that time.

Then when in september the load shedding declined the batteries started becoming hot went to the ups guy he said ups is ok but did not confirm him about charging rate. UPS kept on charging for 2 days I went and purchased a voltmeter and adjusted the cut off point to 27.4 as this was the maximum voltage my batteries could give at room temperature. Then as the days passed I maintained gravity 1200-1250 and my batteries starting giving me increased voltages so I started increasing cutoff point and in early november my batteries gave 28v so I adjusted the cut off point at 28v. During all this sometimes the batteries could not reach the cutoff point i.e if the cutoff point is set at 28v the batteries give upto 27.8v and after this start declining 27.7,27.6 at that spot I used to restart ups and it used to charge fully.

One more thing that after complete discharge the Batteries completely charge within 2 hrs also if there is no loadshedding the batteries automatically start charging after 24 hrs

[talhawaleed]

Yes, this is obvious from results that your batteries have few bad cells. Looks like you are already aware of adjusting the UPS cut off Voltage during charging. 28 Volts is perfectly fine but once batteries grow older then if you feel that UPS is trying hard to make the terminal Voltage 28 Volts but not achieving this so you can reduce the Cut to 27 Volts like you did it. Overcharging is not good for batteries and even with 6 hours load shedding it should take normally 3-5 hours for UPS to completely charge the batteries with 10- 14 Amperes of current.

If your UPS does not have a bad cell then I think you should stick to 28 Volts as Cutoff Voltage. Adjusting the gravity or performing a drain may do a trick as if someone has used tab water while adjusting the level of electrolyte in past then this may be very useful.

I think you already know a lot about your system and you have nothing to loose at this moment. Try to prepare a new electrolyte using distilled water and drain the old one. Put your batteries back on slow charging and discharge it for 2-3 times may do a trick at this moment. Least at the end of the day you will learn a lot.

Also never adjust the cut off voltage above 28 Volts as this may damage your batteries in Longer run.

[talhawaleed]

I forgot to reply against your last line. You have to manually check the charging rate of your batteries and if that is very high adjust it to maximum batteries (AH rating /10). UPS will obviously start charging the batteries once the terminal Voltage will drop below certain level without load shedding. Batteries dies very quickly if left in discharged state for longer duration and this is a precaution against this measure.

[a_n_memon88]

how to put batteries on slow charge

[talhawaleed]

Borrow a AMPMETER from somewhere and verify the current charging rate of each battery. Correct charging rate of 130AH battery is 130AH/10=13 AMPERS. Maximum charging rate should not exceed this level and if already your UPS is charging the batteries at 6-7 AMP then you don’t have to worry about anything.
You can ask UPS guy to charge your batteries on Tanger at slow rate of 5 AMPS or alternately if you can control your UPS then you can use it as well. But ask an expert to help you on this as wrong adjustment can damage many electrical appliances connected with UPS systems.

[umans]

Very informative thread.salute to telha waheed for addressing such a common problem.
sory for being off the topic but can any one suggest me some gud UPS (500-600W) and battery.According to my info Osaka IT series is only one which is close to deep cycle batteries.what about homeage ups? or any ther gud UPS with adjustable options?
thanx in advance

[a_n_memon88]

I was also in same difficulty a year and half ago bought a local UPS and 2 exide 130 batteries last year in april the kit of ups got burnt new one cost 1500 then. Now as there is no loadshedding the things are very cheap as compared to peak demand days. I am getting AGS 135 batteries for 7500 these days so buy your system ASAP

[umans]

@memon I'm looking to buy it but I'm confused about which one to buy:-(

[talhawaleed]

Deep cycle batteries have think lead plates compared to car batteries which have thin plates with more surface areas. Designers once design these batteries keeps the end user in mind and application for which these batteries will be used. Car batteries demand very high current for short duration of time where as Deep Cycle batteries can last for longer as its can be discharged and recharged for more number of times. At the end of the day if not taken care of then they can also die very quickly just like Regular Lead Acid batteries as principal behind the operation is same.

Since general public has no idea about deep cycle batteries so battery manufacturers label these batteries as UPS batteries. If you will buy them then I hope if taken care of it properly then it would last for longer.

Batteries are completely a different stuff and UPS is a different Stuff. Good UPS manufacturers once design a UPS then they know that UPS will draw power from battery and will charge the battery so they design the UPS so that it may not damage the batteries in longer run. Even they are not aware which battery a end user will install with the UPS system so they provide a provision so that a technician can adjust the charging rate as per requirement and this has already been discussed previously.

I think branded UPS systems are available in market with capacity of 500 -600 Watts for Rs 6000 and I remember that I bought two local UPS systems one for 3000 Watt for my office for Rs 15000 and one for 2000 Watts for my home for Rs 9000. You can very well compare the prices and take decision accordingly since you will be spending a lot of money and can also buy one for 2000 Watts by paying some extra cash. If you think that by buying a branded UPS will save you from trouble of monitoring the batteries on regular basis then you are wrong. One more thing, for branded UPS you won’t be able to find easily available technical support within Pakistan where as Local UPS system technical support is easily available.

[speedster_101]

I am experiencing a problem with my UPS system from a couple of days. In our area, the voltage rises very high mostly at night. I know that the voltage is high by looking at the small LCD on my Homage UPS. It shows the input and output voltages.
Now I think there is some high voltage protection system in my UPS that whenever the voltage rises above 265 volts, the UPS cuts off from main line (WAPDA) and comes in backup mode. Backup mode normally kicks in when there is no electricity and UPS is taking power from battery to run home appliances.
Now although there is no load shedding but since the voltage is greater than 265 volts, the UPS does not come out of backup mode and hence battery keeps discharging. After a while UPS starts beeping due to battery discharge and the system shuts off.
I am attaching the pic below.

In this picture, 285 volts is the input (WAPDA), 227 volts is the output of UPS for home appliances and the UPS is on Backup mode, means that it is not charging the battery, rather the battery is being discharged as it is giving power to home appliances.

Now what should I do in such scenario? Should I use a voltage stabilizer between UPS and WAPDA? Will it keep the voltage level in limits?

[fas133]

Yes voltage stabilizer could be used to step down the voltage to normal level or just wait for the summer instead of investing in a stabilizer.

[speedster_101]

I already have a voltage stabilizer. It reads "Automatic AC voltage regulator with Servo motor". I have tried connecting it with UPS but it is not working. I have tried changing the direction of plug. In one direction it works when UPS on WAPDA but doesn't work on backup mode (The buzzer starts beeping and LCD reads "Fault"). In other direction of plug, it works on backup mode but doesn't work on WAPDA (The buzzer starts beeping and LCD reads "Fault"). Also even when it is in backup mode the voltage stabilizer keeps showing voltage reading. (At that time current is not flowing from Stabilizer to UPS, current is flowing from UPS to stabilizer)

[talhawaleed]

CROSS CHECK USING VOLTMETER, AS I AM SURE THAT 285 VOLTS is the output from UPS and 227 VOLTS IS THE OUTPUT FROM WAPDA LINE

I am bit confused here, I think 285 Volts is the output from UPS under load shedding. This is a very high Voltage which will damage many electronic Appliances. Ask UPS guy to adjust the UPS immediately such that output Voltage should not exceed 265 Volts under any circumstances.

UPS normally operates in backup mode once Input voltage across the Terminal is below 220 Volts or Above 235 Volts. This figure is mostly depended upon how designer have designed the UPS system. In any way think of it in this way when one of the phases at times is down and on other phases the voltage at times is 180 Volts this in return can also damage many electronic Appliances so this is basically a protection against down phase. This highlights the same fact which I have repeated in previous posts that output across UPS systems should not exceed 265 Volts in any case and now you can see that it is exceeding the specified limits.

TRY TO INSTALL A VOLTAGE STABILIZER

Try to install a good Voltage Stabilizer in your house and test the Output Voltage without putting any expensive electronic equipment connected to UPS system. Sometimes once Voltage Stabilizers are connected with WAPDA lines and then we connect the UPS systems then Voltage Amplifies this is because mismatch between frequencies. I have experimented this on many Stabilizers so test this first.

YOU CAN ALSO AVOID VOLTAGE STABILIZER

If that’s the case then Avoid a Voltage Stabilizer on UPS line and connect it to remaining lines in your house to protect your expensive electronic equipments from any variation in voltages.
1) Use Voltmeter to read the output of your WAPDA line at night once this happens
2) Ask UPS guy to adjust the parameter such that output should never exceed 265 Volts under load shedding
3) If the output from WAPDA line drops below 200 Volts at night then I think this is not your fault and obviously your system will operate on backup. The best you can do is turn off the system in order to avoid unnecessary drain.

[speedster_101]

@talhawaleed
Thanks brother for replying. I am cent percent sure that 285 volts is NOT the voltage of UPS. It is the voltage of WAPDA line. Reasons are given below:

1) The input and output is displayed clearly on the LCD display. And on the back of Homage UPS input is where we plug in WAPDA line and output is where the UPS wiring to home appliances is connected. Same is written in user's manual.

2) When there is load shedding, the input reads 0000 volts and output reads some value between 220-230 volts, which is obvious as during load shedding WAPDA line has no voltage.

3) If the problem is with UPS voltage then during load shedding it should also show high voltage but it always remain within 220-230 volts.

4) If 227 is WAPDA voltage, then why UPS is on "backup" mode? It should be on "line mode"

5) When I connect my room lights through UPS, they are of normal brightness, but when I connect my room's light directly to WAPDA (by bypassing UPS), they are extremely bright.

6) The bulbs in our home which are not on UPS fuses every week or so. TV and fridge burned once.

[talhawaleed]

Get the Voltmeter and test it yourself. It’s hard to believe but you can easily verify this and always verify things as at times they don’t seemed to be what we think its actually.

If what you are telling me is right then your UPS is obviously stabilizing the Voltage or Alternately in backup mode it providing you with very right Voltage. I have my concerns here

1) Backup mode, use Voltmeter and increase the load on UPS by turning on each light till the time its on maximum load. Read the Voltage across the UPS line and report the results.
Like: back up mode with no load
Like: back mode with one light one
Like backup mode with two lights on
Like backup mode with full load

2) With full load in backup mode: keep on taking the reading after every 10 minutes using Voltmeter and report the results till the time UPS does not runs out of backup.
3) Get your WAPDA line tested as this is a very abnormal behavior where output is 285 Volts. Get this done soon as otherwise you will loose many other electronic appliances.
4) Which UPS are you using A) Local B) branded
5) I think if output from UPS is 230 Volts with no load then it would drop below 230 Volts when you will increase the load and if not then once UPS is about to run out of backup then this output would obviously decrease. I am interested in know, that how much will it decrease. So please report the results of 1 and 2 as others will also get a very good idea about things.
6) Report Capacity of UPS, number of batteries attached , AMPHOUR rating of batteries and total load which UPS takes during load shedding etc.

[speedster_101]

I am having a Chinese branded UPS. Its name is Homage Vision 1000. It is 1000VA/600W.
I am using a Single battery with it. Its Phoenix 150Ah.
The electrical appliances connected with this UPS are.

• 2 ceiling fans
• 2 tube lights
• 1 energy saver
• 2 routers (1 PTCL DSL router and 1 Wireless broadband router)
• 1 Dell Laptop.

I am having the manual of Homage Vision 1000 but since I do not have a scanner, I am writing some technical details and specifications as under:

MODEL:
HOMAGE Vision 1000

CAPACITY:
1000VA/600W

BATTERY:
12V

INPUT:
Nominal Voltage: 220/230/240VAC
Voltage Range: 170-280VAC (Narrow Range)
90-280VAC (Wide Range)
I am using it in Wide Range because it is having lower line sensitivity.

OUTPUT:
Voltage: 230VAC
Voltage Regulation (Battery mode): 10%-18%
Frequency: 50 Hz or 60 Hz
Frequency Regulation (Battery mode): +/- 0.1 Hz
Output Waveform: Modified Sine Wave.

CHARGER:
10Amp +/- 1Amp

TRANSFER TIME:
15ms Typical, 40ms Max.

EFFICIENCY:
AC to AC: >95%
DC to AC: >80%

Right now I don't have a voltmeter. I am planing to buy it next month.
But now I can report the results by noting the readings from its built in voltmeter (LCD showing output voltage)

[Xulfiqar]

firstly you need to use a 105AH battery on your UPS (shehzore battery) if its the Homage 1000.

to your next point - stick a multimeter into the direct wapda line and check voltage. Also check voltage of all three phases (if applicable) at your main power distribution box.

285 volts is too high. Get Wapda to fix it out quickly and as soon as possible, I usually made home in KESC, PTCL or SSGC office if something stupid like this is going on - Get everything including tests on paper - as they are lazy idiots and when they come to check your home system - stand vigilant, Ive had KESC bugger up my main 100A industrial circuit breaker in my home. They also were musing/complaining at the industrial grade thick core power trunk coming from the electricity pole to my house compared to the cheap, thin garbage of power cables they usually install.

[Horse_rider]

I am experiencing a problem with my UPS system from a couple of days. In our area, the voltage rises very high mostly at night. I know that the voltage is high by looking at the small LCD on my Homage UPS. It shows the input and output voltages.
Now I think there is some high voltage protection system in my UPS that whenever the voltage rises above 265 volts, the UPS cuts off from main line (WAPDA) and comes in backup mode. Backup mode normally kicks in when there is no electricity and UPS is taking power from battery to run home appliances.
Now although there is no load shedding but since the voltage is greater than 265 volts, the UPS does not come out of backup mode and hence battery keeps discharging. After a while UPS starts beeping due to battery discharge and the system shuts off.
I am attaching the pic below.

In this picture, 285 volts is the input (WAPDA), 227 volts is the output of UPS for home appliances and the UPS is on Backup mode, means that it is not charging the battery, rather the battery is being discharged as it is giving power to home appliances.

Now what should I do in such scenario? Should I use a voltage stabilizer between UPS and WAPDA? Will it keep the voltage level in limits?

there is selector switch in the UPS, with narrow and wide positions, select the switch to wide position in order to force the UPS to accept that high voltage without tripping it.

[speedster_101]

there is selector switch in the UPS, with narrow and wide positions, select the switch to wide position in order to force the UPS to accept that high voltage without tripping it.

Thanks for your concern but I have already mentioned in my post above that I am using it in "Wide" mode.