🚀 go-pugleaf

With the plethora of cordless, rechargable appliances and tools in our
machine room tool cabinet, the question of the which charging schedule 
will prolong the life of the batteries and provide a reasonable useful
charge has come up.  The best information we have is that the batteries
should not be recharged until they have been drained to avoid giving
them a memory (e.g., if a fully-charged flashlight is consistently used
for 5 minutes, and then recharged, it will soon develop a memory, and will
only shine for 5 minutes before it is discharged).

1) Will this really happen?
2) Does it only happen to a certain type of rechargable batteries?
3) Is it possible to overly drain rechargable batteries so that they will
   no longer take or hold a charge?
4) What is the lifespan of a typical rechargable battery?

My apologies if this has been covered recently; I just started following
these newsgroups.


    Cliff Hathaway
    Dept. of Computer Science (602)621-4291
    University of Arizona     cliff@cs.arizona.edu 	        (internet) 
    Tucson, Ariz. 85721	      {cmcl2,noao,uunet}!arizona!cliff	(uucp)