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From: Gary Peek on 28 Mar 2010 23:51
Archimedes' Lever wrote:
> They end up working like slow charge, quick discharge, leaky
> capacitors. Really, really bad ones.

That describes what I see them doing. Fortunately I designed this
device with excess battery capacity, so I'll be able to get away
with operating it for a while before I need to replace the battery
pack. Thanks for the insight.


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From: Robert Baer on 29 Mar 2010 15:40
Gary Peek wrote:
> Any NiCad battery experts out there? For a NiCad battery pack that
> has not been in use for a long time, like a year, and has discharged
> well below the point of operating the circuit it was powering, what
> is the best way to restore it to use? Is charging it in the normal
> manner good enough, or are a couple of charge/discharge cycles better?
>
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*EACH* cell needs to be fully cycled at least 4 times befoer cycling
the battery.
Any cell that does not recover or is shorted must be tossed (then
replaced).
From: Archimedes' Lever on 29 Mar 2010 10:08
On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:25:32 -0500, John O'Flaherty <quiasmox(a)yeeha.com>
wrote:

>Hardly weakening the contrast and the impossibility of fireworks.


Ordinary chargers these days apply impulses on any batteries that are
having a hard time getting started on the charge cycle. Chargers meant
for battery packs wouldn't, without individual cell access.
From: Hammy on 29 Mar 2010 07:37
On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:51:21 -0500, Gary Peek
<mylastname(a)mycompanyname.com> wrote:

>Archimedes' Lever wrote:
>> They end up working like slow charge, quick discharge, leaky
>> capacitors. Really, really bad ones.
>
>That describes what I see them doing. Fortunately I designed this
>device with excess battery capacity, so I'll be able to get away
>with operating it for a while before I need to replace the battery
>pack. Thanks for the insight.
>
>
>--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news(a)netfront.net ---

Wiki has some decent general info on various battery technologies.
Heres NiCaD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel-cadmium_battery

"The batteries are more difficult to damage than other batteries,
tolerating deep discharge for long periods. In fact, NiCd batteries in
long-term storage are typically stored fully discharged. This is in
contrast, for example, to lithium ion batteries, which are highly
volatile and will be permanently damaged if discharged below a minimum
voltage."
From: mike on 29 Mar 2010 15:58
Gary Peek wrote:
> Any NiCad battery experts out there? For a NiCad battery pack that
> has not been in use for a long time, like a year, and has discharged
> well below the point of operating the circuit it was powering, what
> is the best way to restore it to use? Is charging it in the normal
> manner good enough, or are a couple of charge/discharge cycles better?
>
> --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news(a)netfront.net ---

beware shorted cells.
I've seen many a wall-wart melted because they're designed to charge
all-good cells. When one or more cells shorts, the wall-wart has
insufficient current to blow out the short, so it burns itself up
trying to stuff unlimited current into fewer cells. That can also
over heat the good cells. Happens a lot with power tools.

It's safer to use an external supply to zap any shorts and get the
pack voltage up past 1V/cell before attempting to use the stock charger.
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