scams of Invert-er Battery

There is a scam running in the “Inverter Battery Market” (i.e. lead acid battery Industry) in India since the last 20–25 years. Earlier it used to be run by local battery vendors who used to manufacture(or assemble) their own brand’s batteries. Later on, this trend was tapped in by major battery manufactures.

Fudging AH rating or Capacity on the Battery Label

What this means to a customer?

Fudging battery AH ratings will have a direct impact on the number of hours of backup this battery is going to provide during an electrical outage. You must have heard many people complaining about their inverter batteries not giving the expected backup in summers(in rural India specially).

Let’s have a look how a typical battery label looks(I have deliberately removed the manufactures name because there are many national brands who do this):

Note the number that is written on the Label. This number is the Ampere Hour capacity that this battery is supposed to provide throughout its lifetime. Or at least at the time you buy it. However, In majority of the cases the Bigger Battery manufacture deliberately exaggerate this number. The above picture for example shows the capacity to be 150AH. However, if you put this battery to test you will realize that the Battery dont perform over 120–125AH(in the best case). That is about 20% LESS than rating claimed on the label. Brands do this to earn more (unfair) profits.

Question #1) Why the brands get away with this?

Answer) Because the buyer does not know how to measure this capacity for himself/herself.

Question #2) What can the buyer do to detect it?

Answer) General formula:

(Battery Capacity on the Label )/20 = Number of Amperes you could draw for at least 20 hours(say Y).

Testing Appliance’s power rating ~= Y*12 - 15%

As in the screenshot above, a battery of 150AH should be able to provide 150/20 i.e. 7.5AH Amperes for a continous period of 20 hours. Light an incandescent bulb of 70-75 Watts and leave it ON for 20 hours while connecting through an inverter. Make sure there are no other appliances attached while you are testing/ If it still glows after 20 hours, the battery’s rating is fair and true. If not, the battery is overrated. You could repeat this experiment once more to re-confirm your results.

Note: Some inverters disconnect the battery once the bottom out on the charge. In such cases you should do the testing with a 12V DC bulb(automobile) and connect it directly to the Battery.

Question #3) What can you do about it in India?

Answer) The same you could do about any crime in India. Lodge an FIR and sue the company once you have tested for yourself that the bought battery is over-rated for capacity. However, the time and money the court cases in India take, you know how difficult it is. And it is very very difficult to prove your case in consumer courts and other legal outlets(considering the corruption at each step). Also, people don’t find it worthy enough to fight for a thing that costs 10–15K, considering the repeated visits they will need to give to the legal outlets.

I would have liked to name the brands who do this. But I am leaving this on the user to decide based on their own experiences.