In message , taz
writes

"Peter W. Meek" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:34:33 -0400, Glenn Ashmore
wrote:

NiCads develop a memory over time and can't be fully recharged unless
they are fully discharged occasionally.

This is (almost) a myth. The Ni-Cad memory phenomenon
does exist, but I can almost promise that no-one
reading this has ever experienced it. It requires
that the partial discharge/charge cycle be repeated
*****EXACTLY***** many, many times. It was discovered
in a satellite (and eventually duplicated) where the
battery discharged for a precise length of time into
a precise load, and then was recharged for a precise


I Beg to differ with you.
I have on occasions, and know friends who have damaged
Ni-Cad batteries. They were damaged by partial depletion
then recharging. They were in sealed waterproof torches
and over a period of time the batteries were damaged by
that method of charging. I now always run my batteries from
full to empty no mater what type.
taz.


Top-up charging is the best regime for NiCd's used in a torch. Full
discharge every time simply wears out the cells unnecessarily.

Of course cells vary enormously in quality and it is virtually
impossible to buy decent ones from retail outlets.

--
Keith Lewis