flobert wrote:

> Yes and no. The battery is designed to be chargable. using, and
> draining and charging the battery doesn't 'damage it' per se. If it is
> kept below 10V for an extended period of time (say 12 hours or more)
> then it is irreperably damaged. using a trickle charger is the best
> way to charge a low battery.

Au contrar, cycling a battery, especially cycling it into a deep
discharge mode, absolutely is a major factor in it's expected life time.
Automotive lead-acid batteries do not recover well from deep
discharge events. Take almost any new conventional battery and run it
through twenty cycles of 90% discharge followed by full recharge. Most
will be dead by the end of such a torture test.

John