I have a special needs car when it comes to batteries and have been doing some research into the subject of Batteries,
Car Batteries specifically.
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Battery Conditioning - Battery Reconditioning
Batteries decline in performance, over time.
For rechargeable batteries, the decline will depend upon the battery chemistry, how the battery is used, and how it is
maintained and charged.
For nickel-based batteries (NiMh or NiCd), the battery performance will decline mostly because of crystalline formation.
It isn’t a memory issue (inasmuch as the battery isn’t remembering how hard it worked on previous occasions), but it is
caused by partial discharging and, sometimes, poor charging.
What happens is that the crystals within the chemistry of the battery tend to group and grow into larger crystals, which
increases resistance within the cell and causes the battery to seem empty before it really is.
The best avoidance practice is to “exercise” the battery every month or two with a good discharge and then a full charge
or, if the cells are already delivering poor performance, to put them through a “reconditioning” programme on a suitable
diagnostic device.
The latter isn’t viable for cells costing a few $, but it makes a great deal of sense for power tools batteries, mobile phone
batteries and similar.
For lead acid based batteries, a similar problem occurs with sulphur build up and, in this case, a multi-stage charger
will often do the job.