On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 22:48:01 GMT, John Horner <jthorner@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>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.

a 90% discharge takes its voltage to somewhere in the 5-6V range,
obviously that damages plates. 10V is about 50%, and is aboutt he
minimum limit for successfull resotation.

>
>John