"Andy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I was just looking through the Mar/Apr issue of Wood magazine, where
they did an article on myths of rechargable batteries.

I think that articles such as this serve to feed the raging debate over
batteries. I'll express an opinion based on personal opinion. I am not an
expert by any means. I am an electrical engineer who has had to work with
batteries at various points of my career. Battery chemistry and design is a
complex matter. Its not as simple as classifying batteries into Nicad and
Nimh and LiIon. The spectrum of design characteristics supports a broad
swath of appplication requirements. Though Nimh and LiIon have become
prominent in consumer electronics, you still find a lot of Nicad in heavy
industrial applications because it works better.

I used to do all kinds cycles and incantations and records on my batteries
based on my "expert" knowledge. Today I don't do any of that. I throw it in
the charger and swap when something gets low (cordless drill, hand held tape
recorder or whatever). I don't pay any attention to rules or times or
myths. People basically get really ill when they have to replace the first
batteries on their cordless drill because the price is a real shock. When
you buy a cordless drill with two batteries, about 60-75% of the cost is the
batteries. I'm waiting until the pair of batteries on my Dewalt drill are
completely useless. Than I will buy a whole new drill. In the meantime, I
just swap batteries everytime I start a new project in the shop - sometimes
daily. It works fine for me.

Bob