Maintaining UPS/car batteries

[talhawaleed]

My local UPS cuttoff value is 14.40V and checking battery after 15mins it came down to 12.80V. UPS is switched to main only mode.
Is voltage drop to this level is normal?

I think, index is different, once charging will stop at 14 or 14.4 Volts then voltage on battery terminals will drop to somewhat 12.6V or 12.4V. That does not tell you anything about how good your batteries are. Correct way is to use a load tester but that is not available in every house.

Best you can do is, put the batteries in backup mode and let it discharge for one or two hours, then measure the voltages on battery terminal. If you have two batteries connected in parallel and one has a voltage of 9Volts whereas other is still on 11 then you can easily make out.

If both are 11V then let it discharge and try to drag it till limits and if voltages are still above 10.3 Volts and it does not rapidly starts dropping at any point in time then they are good.

Normally at times we experience a blackout for around for straight 3-7 hours, usually my ups keeps on running if it happens in winters, what I do is that I test the voltages at battery terminals after 3-4 hours and that tells me a lot about its condition. If one is below another by a volt then I suspect that it needs an attention, but mashaallah mostly just because UPS is properly tuned and it has a good quality electrolyte, we hardly feel the electricity outrage and any abnormalities with batteries.

[talhawaleed]

Yup phoenix are going good these days. If phoenix then go with UGS series, either 175 or 215 (12000 - 15000 rs)

Ishtiaq bro can shed more light on it.

i myself am using UGS 215 specifically developed for UPS and very satisfied with them.

[unstopabl3]

I think, index is different, once charging will stop at 14 or 14.4 Volts then voltage on battery terminals will drop to somewhat 12.6V or 12.4V. That does not tell you anything about how good your batteries are. Correct way is to use a load tester but that is not available in every house.

Best you can do is, put the batteries in backup mode and let it discharge for one or two hours, then measure the voltages on battery terminal. If you have two batteries connected in parallel and one has a voltage of 9Volts whereas other is still on 11 then you can easily make out.

If both are 11V then let it discharge and try to drag it till limits and if voltages are still above 10.3 Volts and it does not rapidly starts dropping at any point in time then they are good.

Normally at times we experience a blackout for around for straight 3-7 hours, usually my ups keeps on running if it happens in winters, what I do is that I test the voltages at battery terminals after 3-4 hours and that tells me a lot about its condition. If one is below another by a volt then I suspect that it needs an attention, but mashaallah mostly just because UPS is properly tuned and it has a good quality electrolyte, we hardly feel the electricity outrage and any abnormalities with batteries.

Bro when batteries are completely dead due to prolonged loadshedding, what's the lowest Voltage a battery should show if it's still good, is it 9V??? And if below this then does it mean the battery is dead and needs replacement or can we revive it with flushing and pouring new electrolyte and recharging it from the battery wala???

Also how often do you check your UPS and tune it and what exactly do you check and tune to keep the batteries healthy???

[unstopabl3]

i myself am using UGS 215 specifically developed for UPS and very satisfied with them.

Bro can you shed some light on my post #1770 ??? Will Phoenix UGS 165 or UGS 175 fulfil my requirements??? And any idea about their pricing and current quality???

[talhawaleed]

Bro when batteries are completely dead due to prolonged loadshedding, what's the lowest Voltage a battery should show if it's still good, is it 9V??? And if below this then does it mean the battery is dead and needs replacement or can we revive it with flushing and pouring new electrolyte and recharging it from the battery wala???

Also how often do you check your UPS and tune it and what exactly do you check and tune to keep the batteries healthy???

See, Low Voltage shutdown Variable on ups should be adjusted the same way its adjusted once it stops charging the batteries at 14 or 14.2 Volts and the lower limit once UPS should beep and shut down should be adjusted to 10.3 Volts because if you will prolong it longer than that is not good for batteries in longer run.

If your UPS is not perfectly adjusted, you kept using it till voltage on both the batteries have reached 9Volts, which means an extended discharging during load shedding, If load is still on and its measuring 9Volts then that its self does not indicate anything like if batteries are bad or not. Yes, you are abusing it but they may still be ok. But if you have two batteries connected in series and one has something like 10.5 Volts and other has 9 then you can easily make out that it’s a weak battery. In this case, flush may work or may improve its health.

If voltage at any stage starts to drop rapidly within second like 9, 8.5, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4Volts then that does indicate a faulty battery. In order to guess a problem, you also need to compare the backup time with what it was once they were brand new.

UPS tuning should be cross verified once every year or least once you suspect a problem.

[talhawaleed]

Guys, need new batteries and need your expert advice bro.

I've got a 24V, 1000W desi UPS. My usage is 4 ceiling fans, 1 small side fan, 4-6 23W energy savers, 2-3 tube lights, 1 old style Sony TV and 1 PTCL internet modem.

What would be the best quantity of batteries which could run these things easily for atleast 2 hours and still get charged in an hour BUT also last 2-3 years with proper care and maintenance??? I was thinking to get two 165 or 175 phoenix batteries for this purpose, what do you guys say???

Thanks

Don’t try running your TV’s on desi ups as that requires a fine adjustment and if you will miss anything then may burn the TV. I run mines as its properly adjusted and I know what I am doing, in simple, you got to know what you are doing.

UGS 165 grade or 175 will do fine in your case, just get a good quality electrolyte from pryo chemicals and fill it in your batteries avoiding one which battery shops prepare.

If UPS tuned properly like charging rate and cut off voltage then hopefully it will last longer, maybe three years. If ever you want to run tvs then output voltage has to be properly adjusted to 250Volts maximum as during discharging, output voltage will drop in these desi ups. so remember the band that your tv should run between 250 volts to 220 Volts. Anything above or below will damage it

[talhawaleed]

Oka. Actually @talhawaleed suggested to flush the batteries every 6 to 8 months.. Thats why i was asking..

If you used a good electrolyte, you don?t need to flush it in two years provided you don?t experience any abnormalities. I recommended it so that loose lead material which deposits at bottom and between cell forms a conductive layer and may eventually kill a battery. That is done to avoid that.

Normally once Sulfation will occur, then nothing you will do will bring those batteries back to its useful life. Some says that espom salt is the only treatment which is left but no one has so much time to get into that.

Sulfation occurs once lead acid batteries are deprived of its full charge for prolonged period, during this process small sulfate crystals form which effectively reduces the active lead material. Kindly don?t get into flush if you detect this to be an issue with your battery.

[nasirjavaid]

i myself am using UGS 215 specifically developed for UPS and very satisfied with them.

I have bought ugs 175 and looking forward for summer testing . hoping it should work better than my previous xp165 because ugs is made for ups/inverter

[nasirjavaid]

just get a good quality electrolyte from pryo chemicals and fill it in your batteries avoiding one which battery shops prepare.

It seems pyro has stopped producing electrolyte in half liter bottles
Now only 30 liter drums are available .

[talhawaleed]

It seems pyro has stopped producing electrolyte in half liter bottles
Now only 30 liter drums are available .

Half liter bottles of electrolyte is kind of useless, I think entire 30 liters goes into one brand new UGS 215 batteries or least worth saving the quantity which is saved for later use.

[Ishtiaq778]

Half liter bottles of electrolyte is kind of useless, I think entire 30 liters goes into one brand new UGS 215 batteries or least worth saving the quantity which is saved for later use.

Brand new UGS 215 takes electrolyte exactly 13 litter. 2.16 litters/Cell.

[nasirjavaid]

Half liter bottles of electrolyte is kind of useless, I think entire 30 liters goes into one brand new UGS 215 batteries or least worth saving the quantity which is saved for later use.

Brand new UGS 215 takes electrolyte exactly 13 litter. 2.16 litters/Cell.

I think that 13 litter is correct as asked from shop keeper how much they pour in UGS 175 and they told almost 1.5 litter per cell... so its 9-10 litter in ugs175...

so instead of buying 30 litter drum I just asked shop keeper to use his own prepared electrolyte in it

[unstopabl3]

It seems pyro has stopped producing electrolyte in half liter bottles
Now only 30 liter drums are available .

Bro ye 30L drum kitne ka dai rahe hain??? And do you need to take your own container or they provide it???

[unstopabl3]

UGS 165 grade or 175 will do fine in your case, just get a good quality electrolyte from pryo chemicals and fill it in your batteries avoiding one which battery shops prepare.

What's the approx price of Phoenix UGS 165 & 175 if you know it??? I will surely get the electrolyte from Pyro and use that in the new batteries. But will the shop wala give me 4-5% discount on battery cost for sure as you mentioned??? Also at what rate should I ask him to charge the batteries for me and for how long they should be charged???

If UPS tuned properly like charging rate and cut off voltage then hopefully it will last longer, maybe three years. If ever you want to run tvs then output voltage has to be properly adjusted to 250Volts maximum as during discharging, output voltage will drop in these desi ups. so remember the band that your tv should run between 250 volts to 220 Volts. Anything above or below will damage it

If I do get the UGS 165 or 175, can you tell me the parameters I should set on my UPS to get the maximum life out of them, like charging rate, cutoff voltage etc. Currently my UPS charging at 10-12A and cutoff is 14.30V done with your suggestions a few months back

Lastly could you tell me how much I should sell my old batteries for, they are two batteries of National brand 130N model, one has a bad cell and the other one is working fine, so would they sell for same price or different and for how much???

Thanks

[talhawaleed]

Lastly could you tell me how much I should sell my old batteries for, they are two batteries of National brand 130N model, one has a bad cell and the other one is working fine, so would they sell for same price or different and for how much???

Thanks

no idea, you will have to go around and will have to ask from different shops.

[talhawaleed]

I think that 13 litter is correct as asked from shop keeper how much they pour in UGS 175 and they told almost 1.5 litter per cell... so its 9-10 litter in ugs175...

so instead of buying 30 litter drum I just asked shop keeper to use his own prepared electrolyte in it

what is the cost of 30 liter drum of pryo electrolyte.

[unstopabl3]

no idea, you will have to go around and will have to ask from different shops.

If I do get the UGS 165 or 175, can you tell me the parameters I should set on my UPS to get the maximum life out of them, like charging rate, cutoff voltage etc. Currently my UPS charging at 10-12A and cutoff is 28.30V done with your suggestions a few months back

[nasirjavaid]

Bro ye 30L drum kitne ka dai rahe hain??? And do you need to take your own container or they provide it???

what is the cost of 30 liter drum of pryo electrolyte.

No idea of price bro as never bought 30 litter... last year bought 3 1/2 litter bottles for rs 40x3
they provide the container along with 30 litter i think

[nasirjavaid]

If I do get the UGS 165 or 175, can you tell me the parameters I should set on my UPS to get the maximum life out of them, like charging rate, cutoff voltage etc. Currently my UPS charging at 10-12A and cutoff is 28.30V done with your suggestions a few months back

Under 15amp.

[talhawaleed]

If I do get the UGS 165 or 175, can you tell me the parameters I should set on my UPS to get the maximum life out of them, like charging rate, cutoff voltage etc. Currently my UPS charging at 10-12A and cutoff is 28.30V done with your suggestions a few months back

UGS 175 has an amp-hr rating of 135, if your ups is imported one then you cannot adjust the charging rate on this and if its local then you can do something about it.

So coming back to the point, 135amp-hr means that maximum allowable charging rate should be 13.5 Amperes.
With 12 amperes of charging rate is not beyond 13.5 but still is towards an high end, if I could have adjusted then I would have kept it till 7-9 amperes maximum.

Maybe, you should consider buying UGS 215 AS ITS amp-hr rating is 160, would give you a better backup time and plus 12 amperes of charging rate will be ok for it.

Even then you want to go for UGS 175 then slightly reduce the charging rate to 7-8 amperes. Slow charging is always good for batteries, 7-8 amperes won’t be slow but should be ok.

28.3 v is ok.