It is not necessary to discharge your batteries befor recharging for either NiMh or NiCad. If you are charging at 0.1C it wont damage the NiCads if you overcharge them a few hours. You will get approximatelly twice as much life (number of charge/discharge cycles) from the NiCad's than you will get from NiMH. Also, the NiCad's will withstand a bit more abuse than NiMh will, especially with respect to any overcharge at low rates. The belief that NiCads need cycling to prevent memory is pretty much a myth in the way RCers use them. The only reason for ever discharging either NiMh or NiCad is to check their capacity against factory specs and that has to be done under the conditions that the discharge rate is held ot 0.2 to 0.25C and that you discharge down to 0.9volts/cell. Check out www.rcbatteryclinic.com for some good reliable advice on the care of your batteries.