"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...

Ni-Cd cells like to be fully discharged every once in a while --
but not in a battery of series cells.

It's not just NiCd batteries, but all batteries.

Not as far as I know. Some lead-acid cells can be permanently damaged if run
down to zero even once. This happened to a Sony Discman battery that was
accidentally discharged slowly, over a period of about a week. It was dead,
dead, dead, and would not take a charge.