Do NiCad Batteries Really Have Memory?

by Brent
(Cleveland, OH, USA)

Do Nicads really have memory?

Do Nicad batteries really have memory? I've read many articles that state that Nicads can develop a memory when not discharged completely. I've also read articles where people say this is all made up?

Any, I think they must develop memory affects because I think the battery for my radio has "memory". How do I discharge a Nicad or lipo battery?

I need to discharge it down very low, then, charge it back up again to get rid of the memory?

How do I discharge it down?

Matt's Reply:DON'T try to cycle your lipo's!

Nicads do develop a memory. You can buy chargers that will cycle the Nicads for you. As a matter of fact, this Thunder Power TP610C is a very nice affordable charge that will do just that, and will also balance charge your Lipo packs and any other type of battery there is. You really can't beat it for the price.

If you don't have such a charger you can hook the battery to something that will draw a small amount of current. Such as a tiny fan or something.

But don't discharge them too quickly. And it's a good idea not to let them drop below .8volts per cell.

Lipo's on the other hand do NOT develop a memory. Discharge a lipo lower than 3volts per cell will permanently damage the battery. So DON'T try to cycle a Lipo.

Does this help?

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Do NiCad Batteries Really Have Memory?

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Forget NiCad "Memory" !
by: Gary

NiCad "memory" is more wive's tale than fact. At the very least the "memory" term is a mis-used term .

The practice of partially discharging then attempting a full recharge cycle has a cumulative affect that will diminish battery capacity. This is entirely different from the "memory" effect first described by General Electric in the 1960s.

In that case the clockwork like charge/discharge cycles that was part of satellite duty did lead to diminished capacity in the early NiCads used at the time. Since then changes have been made in NiCad batteries to eliminate that anomaly.

Even without those changes, "memory" was rare since the very precise discharge/charge cycles of a satellite orbiting the Earth are seldom acheived in normal use or abuse of NiCad batteries.

In short , forget NiCad memory and learn that a partially discharged cell does not require as long to fully recharge at a given current setting.

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Thanks
by: brent

Thanks for the comments on "memory" and discharging/charging nicads.

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Why do they make charges that cycle batteries?
by: Jason

That is a very interesting and informative post. What I don't understand is why someone would make all of this up about memory and NiCads?

Why then are chargers made specifically for cycling batteries if "memory" in NiCads no longer exists? Is it just a big conspiracy theory for the charger manufacturers to cell their product?

I am not disputing what you say because quite frankly I am not educated on the subject enough to do so.

But the fact that chargers are made specifically for cycling NiCad batteries used in our hobby doesn't make much since to me if NiCad memory does not exists...

It just don't add up. What's up with that?

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