* "brynmore williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Sun, 30 Jan 2000
| I always thought that it's the opposite that's true: if you don't deep cycle
| you'll shorten the battery life.
True for Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-Metal Hydride cells. And they should
not be deep discharged every cycle. While deep discharging allows for
greater charge capacity in the short term, it overstresses the cells which
reduces their life span. Occasional deep discharge is good, though. It
breaks up the crystaline formations in the cells which reduce capacity.
Not true for Lithium-Ion and rechargeable Alkaline cells. Deep discharging
these types of cells overstresses them even more than NiCd and NiMH,
leading to drastically reduced life span. Rechargeable Alkaline cells
should never be drained below about 50% capacity. "Smart" Li-Ion cells,
such as those on notebooks, may be deep discharged very infrequently when
recalibration is required, but otherwise will provide much longer life if
kept "topped off".
--
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