Motorola 68P64114B12B manual Battery Terminology, Memory Effect

Batteries 3-3

Table 3-1Battery Specifications

Weight: (gm)
Standard High capacity NiMH battery		202
Ultra high capacity NiMH battery		275
High capacity NiCd battery		225
High Capacity Lilon battery		125
Average Battery Life @5/5/90 Cycle:	Low Power	High Power
With Standard high capacity NiMH battery	11 hours	8 hours
With Ultra high capacity NiMH battery	14 hours	11 hours
With NiCD battery	12 hours	9 hours
With Lilon battery	11 hours	8 hours

1.5Battery Terminology

Memory Effect

Continually not fully discharging a battery causes an accumulation of very tiny gas bubbles and the formation of irregular shaped crystals which adhere to the cell plates. These irregular shaped crystals prevent the battery attaining its full capacity.

The result is the battery will only charge to the level at which it was last discharged.

For example, a person over many months routinely uses only 70% of the battery capacity before recharging. In a Nickel Cadmium battery that originally had a battery life of 8 hours, this would reduce to only 5.6 hours once memory effect had occurred.

To avoid the memory effect, ensure the battery is fully discharged before starting a charge cycle. This can most effectively be achieved by purchasing a battery maintenance/optimising system.

NOTE Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are less prone to memory effect and Lithium Ion batteries do not exhibit this effect at all.