At 8:39 AM -0500 10/3/2002, gponz wrote: >What exactly is this "memory effect"?
While it's long been considered a "feature" of a NiCd cell, it isn't really. It's a matter of a NiCd battery. When the battery partially discharges and is then recharged, each cell charges at a slightly different rate. When the charge circuitry detects a full charge it cuts off the current. At this point one cell will have a lower voltage and therefore a lower charge state. When the battery is used again this cell discharges to an even lower state. Upon recharging the battery again this cell will have even less charge in it than after the previous recharge. After a few cycles of this this low cell can be quite low. Doing a deep discharge of the battery brings all cells down to approximately zero. Now when the battery is recharged again it will charge all the cells to around 100%. It's likely that the low cell from before will be low again but it will be charged to nearly full capacity. One way around this is to use a good battery charger that either charges every cell individually or at least monitors each cell and compensates in some way. -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting [EMAIL PROTECTED] "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
