Originally posted by: hnsn82
anyone know about conditioning the battery ??? what does that mean ? and what does it do to the battery ???
thanks for replying...
Conditioning applies to Ni-cad batteries. That's when the charger completely discharges the batteries before charging them. Ni-cads have a "memory effect"; example: if you repeatedly (like maybe 50 times in a row I'm guessing?) discharge a ni-cad to only half-capacity and then charge it from there, something changes chemically inside the battery that causes crystals to form, so that that half-capacity 'mark' becomes "full capacity." Discharging the battery completely is good for it by preventing this memory effect. They say this as an illustration:
"It's like an old freezer that collects frost - the more frost there is on the interior, the harder it is to defrost the freezer. And as the frost continues to build, you'll have less capacity inside the freezer"
Just found the battery guide issue of MaxPC (I look forward to electronic formats instead of paper; sure was buried).
Ni-MH batteries also have a memory effect, but it is considerably less of a problem. Li-ion have no memory effect at all. The only bad thing that they really say about it is that if the lithium inside comes into contact with water - "boom."