[Elecraft] Portable Power

[Fred Townsend]

Let's stamp out this bad idea. ALWAYS recharge as soon as possible after
use. The further you discharge a battery the more you shorten its useful
lifetime. This is true of all battery technologies. I know you have heard
clueless vendors say you want to completely discharge a battery before
recharging. Perhaps they are trying to increase sales. Furthermore, larger
lithium type batteries are not only damaged by total discharge, they also
become unstable when totally discharged. They are potential bombs if totally
discharged. Therefore the manufacturers embed a microprocessor and a
discharge mechanism inside the battery so you can not totally discharge
these batteries if you wanted too. Yes the so called 'gas gage' may show
zero charge remaining. Internally there is really 20 to 30% charge you can
not access. 

This questionable practice of total discharge was started with NiCad
batteries in order to equalize charge. It didn't work and shortened battery
life so it was soon abandoned. Unfortunately many dealers did not get the
message.
73
Fred, AE6QL

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of David
Bondy G4NRT
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2015 3:46 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Portable Power
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Should they be left to run down and then charged or kept continuously on a
charger?  
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