Eneloop charging -- best practices?

[TPA]

There's been plenty of discussion about HOW to charge the eneloops. I'm wondering WHEN should they be charged?

For example, with sealed lead acid batteries, you generally don't want to go below 40-60% charge, so applications which use these charge them up whenever they can. Similarly, I've noticed the lithium batteries in mobile phones seem to last longer if not drained down as far.

So, with the eneloops, am I better off running them until they're flat, about half, or charging them as often as possible?

 

[h2xblive]

I imagine you just treat them like any other NiMH battery...avoid an extremely deep discharge.

 

[NiOOH]

Deep cycling 100% of the time usually decreases cycle life. For best overall combination of performance and longevity, I deep cycle my NiMH cells once every 5 shallow cycles or so. Cells that have been stored for more than a month (except Enelops), also undergo deep cycling before returning to service.

 

[TPA]

Deep cycling 100% of the time usually decreases cycle life. For best overall combination of performance and longevity, I deep cycle my NiMH cells once every 5 shallow cycles or so. Cells that have been stored for more than a month (except Enelops), also undergo deep cycling before returning to service.

How much of a memory do the eneloops have? If you're saying you do a deep cycle, then they obviously have some form of memory, otherwise this would be a waste of time.

 

[NiOOH]

As any NiMH cell they do exhibit some voltage depression (wrongly called memory) but you wouldn't see it if you cycle deep once every 5 shallow cycles. In fact, I used to deep cycle once every 10-15 shallow cycles, but figured that this way I change my cells too often, and also strain my chargers too much.