Really, only experimentation will tell the story. The higher the discharge
rate, the hotter they will get. You don't want them hot. And when they do
get warm, you'll want them to have a complete cool down before putting them
on the charger.

--
Steve Barker







"KC" wrote in message
ups.com...
I don't recharge NiCads until they're 80-90% discharged. (Definitely
don't want to discuss the pros/cons of that!) My question is what is
a reasonable discharge rate to get the batteries down to that level?
For example, for a pack of 2800mah batteries, a bulb pulling 300ma
takes a long time to draw them down. Can I safely up the load to 1 or
1.5A to discharge them faster without causing damage to the batteries?

Why? Typically I'll have usage on a battery pack at the end of the
day, but want to start tomorrow with a fully charged pack.

KC