On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 23:26:35 -0700 (PDT), bigrocketman3@webtv.net (Steve McDonald) wrote:

> Are people normally having problems with lithium camcorder
>batteries losing their capacity, due to incomplete discharging cycles?
>I thought this was a NI-Cad flaw that was eliminated with the Lithium
>and NiMH batteries.

It appears to be mostly a problem with the smallest-size
batteries, but it also shows up with the larger ones in a
shorter VF-indicated max run time when they are rarely
nearly drained before recharging. As with most rechargable
batteries, it is not a good idea to drain them too much
below their normal operating voltage, so they should not
be left on a load without monitoring the voltage. (As a
guess, I stop the discharging at around 25% voltage drop
below normal...) Discharging below operating voltage is
not necessary to do often, but it can improve the max
storage capacity of batteries that no longer provide
a significant proportion of their original capacity...