On Sat, 16 May 2009 06:47:24 -0700, SMS
wrote:

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.


Self discharge and internal resistance are TOTALLY unrelated.
A battery is a series of cells. Each cell has an internal resistance
- which is between + and - terminals. This is "series" resistance. If
there is no load on the battery there is no current flow, so no
effect. IF both internal resistance and self discharge are lower on a
given battery than another, the two items are co-incidence, not
causual.