Thoughts on battery storage and charging

[scububa]

When my lights sit without diving, I also put on the charger once per month. I remove when the charger indicates it is happy.
One charger is solid to charge and blinky when happy.
The other is the opposite.

This is why I could never have two girlfriends (wife/mistress, etc.)
Too confusing

BTW, one of the battery packs (DR 10W HID converted to LED a year ago) I bought used (over a year old) and have had since OCT 05. I haven't done a burn test in a while, but I regularly get 2.5 hrs plus with the LED upgrade.

[saturation]

To maximize life, SLA type batteries should be stored fully charged. It should be topped up every 3-6 months, depending on the self discharge of your particular model. Leaving the battery discharged will cause sulfation and shorten the life of the battery quite a bit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfation

The Genesis batteries self discharges very little. I need not top it up for at least 6 months, the longest its sat unused, and it still registers a full charge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead-acid_battery

NiMH can be left uncharged, charge and discharge cycles reduce its overall life especially if you fast charge them. It self discharges quite noticeably, at least 1% a day if not more, so 'topping' up a battery pack and then not using it really reduces its overall life since it will self discharge while it sits unused.

To reduce self discharge, put it in a refrigerator, or keep it cold but do not freeze them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_...ry#Discharging

In 10 years, I've used up 2 NiMH packs for an HID light, and in excess of 600 dives on them. I discard them when the burn time is 2.5 hours, because that's my typically dive time. A new pack burns for at least 4 hours using HID. For LED, I hope it will last longer.

I have no personal experience with Li batteries, but Wikipedia can help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium...attery#Storage