X-Telecom-Digest: Voume 12, Issue 853, Message 7 of 1
In a recent TELECOM Digest, betsys@cs.umb.edu (Elizabeth Schwartz)
wr
> 4) Is this thing supposed to be left in the base or can I bring it
> outside and wait for it to ring? Does it have to stand up in the base?
wdp@gagme.chi.il.us (Bill Pfeiffer) responds:
> No need to keep it in the base, except for charging. However, it is
> best NOT to keep charging and recharging. Better to use the batteries
> until the battery-low light comes on. Continued short charges can
> cause the battery to aquire a short-memory, and begin to lose it's
> ability to stay charged for a full term.
Actually, the "memory effect" myth about nicad batteries has been
pretty well debunked.
Turns out that a memory effect can only be demonstrated under very
carefully controlled lab conditio`discharged hundreds of times to exactly the same discharge point.
Otherwise
The most damage done to nicad cells by the mattempt to fully discharge the cells to avoid the mythical effect, and
then drive it into reverse polarity, damaging the cells.
Soin the past year in QST (a ham radio magazine, publisheAmerican Radio Relay League) about this, and a few years back there
was an item in QST Technical Correspondence from Gould explaining that memory effect in nicads does not exist.The myth is quite popular though. I have seen ads for fancy
microprocessor controlled nicad charges that carefully do a deep
discharge before each charge.
Paul Cook 206-881-7000
Proctor & Associates MCI Mail 399-1080Redmond#! rnews 105