DIYbanter - View Single Post - Leave an unplugged battery charger connected to lead-acid battery?

SMS

wrote:

Of course battery internal resistance is a durrent path for discharge.
No, series resistance cannot cause battery discharge.

Not series resistance, the internal resistance of the battery. The lower
the internal resistance, the higher the self discharge (but the higher
the maximum current as well). Short out an Alkaline AA cell and nothing
much happens because of the high internal resistance. Short out a NiCad
or NiMH AA cell, or a car battery, and the result is much different.