Super Urgent Help needed on adding additional battery to UPS- wanting to upgrade during BBD/Amazon sale

[arnprasad]

Hi All

In the ground floor, I have an Exide UPS and Battery. However when we are watching say my 75 inch TV with few lights and fans on...during power outage it hardly lasts for half an hour. Typically we turn everything off. However sometimes we fail to notice and the battery drains off completely.

I am happy with the amount of output from the UPS but I want a longer time period. Seems connecting an additional battery in parallel is the solution.

I checked with my electrician and he said even if we connect an additional battery in parallel, the existing UPS may not handle the charging of both batteries.

However when I called the guy who sold me the UPS and Battery...he said we can add another battery in parallel and not an issue. Of course peddling his own case, he said the second battery needs to be exactly the same as the first one!!!

Want to take advantage of the offers during the Dasara sale assuming they havent jacked up the prices before hand. Hence please clarify the follow. I did google and there are many answers on Quora but not consistent. Tomorrow I will go to a local shop and ask as well. Pls help me out if any of you are experts in this field.

(a) This is the given UPS and battery I have. In the Amazon product page of the UPS, it says it can handle 1 battery. Hence bit confused.
(b) While I understand my existing seller asking me to buy same battery again....I dont think buying another brand would make a difference. However would the wattage make a difference? say my existing battery is 150 AH normal battery. Would adding 150 AH or any other AH of more or less of a different brand but say a tubular one and connecting it to parallel work?

many thanks in advance for all your help.

Existing UPS

Amazon.in

Existing Battery

Amazon.in

Battery I want to add and connect in parallel.

Amazon.in

Also would buying local be cheaper than online? Last time I had a bad experience with local and hence went online. Thx

 

[bobbyprajan]

The electrician is right. Another battery in parallel will slow down charging. The seller is right too, it is better to go for the same brand and type of battery. However even then there is no guarantee that they are equal in all respect.

Since the UPS specifications says 1 battery, it is better to stick to the manufacturer specified topology. Only half an hour Backup with a 150AH battery seems low, are you sure the battery is in good health. If your UPS supports, why not consider a 180AH or 200AH single battery instead of 2 batteries in parallel

 

[arnprasad]

Thx for your response. When I say half an hour.. I meant with my 75 inch TV along with a desktop or tatasky Hd plus few lights and fans. I am sure if its just lights and fans..may run for an hour or two.

What happened last month was that the battery ran out of distilled water completely. So I went and bought the water and to over compensate, I filled it to the brim with the result that water started seeping out along with some chemical salts. Am sure it would have bought down the capacity..not sure by what percent but hoping ..not more than 20%. Buying a new battery of higher capacity would mean I would have to sell the existing battery for 2-3K and this existing one I guess is not more than 2 years old.

Hence assuming existing one is 80% working.....just wanted to add an extra one to get more time out of it.

 

[bobbyprajan]

When I say half an hour.. I meant with my 75 inch TV along with a desktop or tatasky Hd plus few lights and fans. I am sure if its just lights and fans..may run for an hour or two.

I think it should be better than this with a decent inverter / UPS. I have a 150AH battery and APC Inverter which lasts several hours with fan, light and TV

What happened last month was that the battery ran out of distilled water completely. So I went and bought the water and to over compensate, I filled it to the brim with the result that water started seeping out along with some chemical salts. Am sure it would have bought down the capacity..not sure by what percent but hoping ..not more than 20%

This would have caused a reduction in the specific gravity. I suggest you get the specific gravity checked by a technician to restore the battery at the earliest to prevent further damage

 

[arnprasad]

Many thanks. I just googled hydrometer and how to check SG after I saw ur post..is it something we can do ourselves or say my tech savy electrician can do? I anyway pay him on a full day basis during repair works.

Saw this video

Amazon search for hydrometer...if its around 500 bucks..would rather buy and test rather than call a technician who will charge me a similar amount.

Amazon.in : hydrometer

Also my above mentioned UPS keeps on giving readings on its display. Would any of those readings lets us know of any issues with battery?

And lastly assuming my battery is 50% down.....and I buy say a 180Ah Tall Tubular for around 15k and link it to my existing UPS..what can I do with existing battery apart from selling it?

 

[bobbyprajan]

Also my above mentioned UPS keeps on giving readings on its display. Would any of those readings lets us know of any issues with battery?

Not sure how to correlate that. Maybe some useful information is available in the UPS user manual. Please so check the same

And lastly assuming my battery is 50% down.....and I buy say a 180Ah Tall Tubular for around 15k and link it to my existing UPS..what can I do with existing battery apart from selling it?

As your battery is only 2 years old and the spilling happened recently, there is a good chance that a battery shop can restore it fully. You should consult someone who repairs / restores lead acid batteries. Most probably the shop from where you bought the battery can do this or know someone who does this