Why Batteries Need to be Reconditioned?
Rechargeable batteries do NOT last forever. There are only so many times that you can charge and recharge them. First they start to lose power and you find that there is less and less usable time that you have before you must charge again.Some people have termed this the memory effect. The term "memory" basically is described as the battery "remembers" its usual discharge point and superficially "needs" a charge whenever it hits that point. In other words, if you have a NiCd that always gets discharged to only 50% of its capacity, it will eventually not run below that 50% mark if you ever wanted to discharge it to a lower point.
In a new NiCd battery the active cadmium is present in finely divided crystals. The memory effect develops as these crystals grow and reduce the effective surface area of the cadmium.
This results in voltage depression which leads to a loss in capacity. Advanced crystal formation can lead to sharp edges piercing the separator between the plates and causing a high self discharge rate or an electrical short.
Many people who do not know about this effect just throw away the battery because they think it is dead. More than likely, the battery can be revived providing that the battery isn't completely damaged (i.e. from years of memory buildup).
Basically rejuvenation and reconditioning of the batteries can break down this crystal formation as long as they are not so ingrained from years of memory buildup.
NiMh is also affected by this memory condition but not as pronounced. So these procedures can apply to them as well. Lithium and lead based batteries do NOT suffer from the memory effect but plate oxidation on the lithium and sulfation and corrosion on the lead acid systems cause reduced charge capacity as well.
Lithium batteries are non correctable but lead acid can be corrected with a combination of electrolyte replacement and reconditioning. Check out the Battery Doctors on how to do this.
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