🚀 go-pugleaf

>   You should discharge them individually.  This came from a lecture I
> heard given by a battery company rep a few years back.  Otherwise, the
> lowest cell will be reverse charged if you go to low.
              ^^^^

Use "may" instead of "will".  If the different between the lowest and the
highest cell is small enough, this reversal won't happen or won't go far
enough that routine charging cannot correct.  Reversal certainly WILL
happen in extreme cases, such as a very weak cell among strong ones and
a high discharge current.  If you want to discharge, and especially if
you are going to deep discharge, do it with a low current.

>   I would question the wisidom of discharging the cells first (especially
> doing so quickly).  This is likely to increase their temperature, and to
> cause shorter life (in number of cycles of service) from the greater amount
> of chemical changes done.

On the converse, by doing the full discharge regularly, and of course
slowly, then following that up with a slow charge, you are more likely
to keep each of the cells in a battery at a relatively equal level of
charge.  It is said that periodic full discharging can prevent the so
called "memory effect".

I have 4 battery packs I use for my ham radio HT's.  They each go through
(at 4 different phases) a 4 day cycle:
    1.  slow charging for 24 hours
    2.  more slow charging for 24 hours
    3.  regular use for 24 hours
    4.  slow discharge for 24 hours
At the end of the 48 hours of slow charging, the battery packs are just
barely at the verge of being warm.  Occaisionally I cannot tell if it is
warm or not, and get worried that the charge did not make electrical
contact or some other problem prevented a charge.  But such a problem
has never happened.  Occaisionally, a battery pack still has a charge
left on on after step 4.  This is usually when I accidently left the
power saver ON on the radio during step 3.  These battery packs have
NEVER been rapid charged.  3 of them have been working for over a year
and a half at this and the 4th was added several months ago.  Even
though the packs are only 8 cells, they are exhibiting typically over
10 volts even under high power transmit load (1.8 A on the 1.2 Ah rated
cells).  No cells have reversed or shorted yet.

--Phil Howard, KA9WGN-- | Individual CHOICE is fundamental to a free society
<phil@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> | no matter what the particular issue is all about.