Well, here is an item that reinforces the myth: My 18V NiCad drill came
with a charger that has a "Battery Conditioning" button. The
instructions say that every 6 to 8 recharges I should press the button
to restore the original capacity of the battery pack. My top of the
line MaHa NiMh/NiCD charger has a similar button with the same
instructions. The MaHa/Powerex instructions go on to say that new NiMH
batteries must go through 4 or 5 complete drain cycles before they will
store their full capacity and that I could do that by pressing the
"condition" button. The charger would then drain the batteries before
starting the charge.

Sure sounds like a cure for "memory loss" to me.


Sir Spamalot wrote:

Hi all,

I've seen quite a few posts on this subject, and would like to add my
$.02.

About 10 years ago, I was involved in the design of a telemetry device
that used NiCADs for backup (up to 23 hrs.). I was deeply concerned
about the charge/discharge of these, so my boss, who was an ex-VP for
GE, tracked down the NiCAD guru at Gates. When asked about "memory",
this guru stated, unequivocally, that the "memory" effect was somewhat
of an urban legend, promulgated by the difficulties NiCADs presented
when initially developed somewhere around WW2. Modern battery
manufacturing designs and techniques in the last few decades or so
have totally eliminated the "memory" effect

Last I checked, one of these telemetry devices was still running OK,
even though it was installed over 8 years ago. Granted, I have no
idea if it's **ever** actually used it's battery backup, but I have to
assume that sometime in it's life it has been unplugged for at least a
little while.

No troll, no flame wars please. I'm just passing on some info.

SS


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
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