ORIGINAL: Rodney

I also have to agree with most of what RCKen said. Gary is in error in several points. First off, NiCads will not be damaged by discharging to zero volts, in fact, NASA recommends that they be stored with a shorting bar across their terminals. What will damage them is a reverse charge or discharge at a rate so high it raises their internal temperature over limits. As long as the discharge rate is kept to .3C or less, no damage will occur. Also, as we use them, NiCads do not exhibit a memory. Under some circumstances you can get voltage depression (also happens to NiMh). An occasional deep discharge and recharge at 0.1C for 16 hours tends to recover from said depression. For long life, your batteries (NiCad and NiMh) will give you longer life (more charge/discharge cycles) if you always use a slow charge (0.1C) rather than a peak charger. Heat is the biggest factor in lowering the lifespan of Nixx batteries as the separator deteriorates faster at higher temperatures. While fast charging is convenient, it definitely decreases the lifespan of the batteries.