
Electrochemical Battery 307
the cell voltage drops much below its original normal value shown by the dotted line,
resulting in a loss of full capacity. This phenomenon is like losing our body muscle due
to lack of use over a long time. A remedy for restoring the full capacity after many shal-
low discharge cycles is to exercise the battery, also called reconditioning the battery. It
means to fully discharge it to almost zero voltage once every few months and then fully
charge it to full voltage per cell. The memory effect is unique to the NiCd battery; most
other types of electrochemistries do not have such a memory effect.
12.3.6 teMPeratUre ...