Battery Information

Battery Information

• Proper Battery Care & Use
• Battery Dont's
• Types of Rechargeable Batteries
• Memory Effect
• Battery Upgrading
• Battery Will Not Charge • Maximizing Performance
• Battery Ratings (Volts & Amps)
• Battery Lifespan
• Recycling
• Main Batteries
• CMOS (Clock Batteries) • RAM (Resume Batteries)
• Laptop Burn Time
• "Smart" Batteries
• NiCad Batteries
• Sealed Lead Acid Batteries
• Nickel Metal Hydride

NiCad Batteries
The Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) battery is an older technology. However, this battery does have certain features that may appeal to you. One nice thing about the NiCad battery is that it has a longer charge and discharge cycle. In every day terms, although this battery takes longer to charge, it also takes longer to discharge. That is why we find this type of battery in a lot of power tools. With proper care, this battery has an average life of 1000 - 1500 charges!

NiCad batteries also store electricity longer than Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) cells meaning they have a longer shelf life. Once you fully charge the battery, the discharge rate is the lowest of any battery type, with the exception of the SLA battery. While it is true that NiCad batteries do not have the capacity for saving electricity as either NiMH or Lithium-Ion (although Lithium-Ion batteries will catch up in a short time), they are able to handle a higher electrical load.

The down side to NiCad batteries is the "memory effect." This happens if you do not totally discharge and recharge your battery each time you use it. You also should not leave a NiCad battery on its charger after it has been fully charged. If you do this it could cause the contact crystals in the battery to increase in size, which would result in the battery having less area for electrical storage. Although it is rare, the crystals could get too large and breech the cell structure causing your battery to short-circuit.

Disclaimer: Any statements and information in this page are for general information purposes. They represent the latest technical status at the time of publishing. We reserve the right to change the information in this page without prior notice. The technical information is given in a descriptive way and does not guarantee any properties or change any warranties on batteries.