Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:14:23 GMT, David Lang wrote:

What's the best way to prolong life? Discharge completely on a
regular basis? Recharge immediately after each use?

Self discharge is one of the most damaging things for NiCds, note that
come discharged. If you know your are not going to use the tool for a
period(*) then it's best to take the charge level down low, but then
of course you need to charge it before you use it. No more whip it out
and off you go...

What do you mean by this?
Discharging deeply harms cells, by reverse charging them.
Sustained charging converts one of the metals in the battery to a different
form, and makes it harder to discharge rapidly.
Self-discharge does not harm cells.