On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 04:39:35 GMT, (Thunder9)
wrote:

I just bought the Night Rider Evolution and Light and Motion bike
lamps, both of which are NiMH.

I charged the batteries as per instructions before my first ride,
which was 40 minutes. Now what? Do I continue to use them until they
are discharged, or do I recharge them?

In one of the instructions, it says that the battery gets its maximum
charge time after about 5 or 6 complete charges and discharges.

This seems to suggest that I run them all the way down (or nearly all
the way down) before charging them again.

Thanks,
Thunder9

Most people agree that it takes a few cycles to get full capacity.
After that it gets interesting.

If your setup has a smart charger that shuts off at 100% charge, don't
bother running the batteries down. You run the risk of running them
down too far and reverse charging one or more cells.

If it's not a smart charger the most common result is overcharging the
pack. This reduces battery life. Do yourself and the pack a favor
and get a smart charger.

Some of the ones made for RC cars/airplanes can be used for packs with
any number of cells. I use a Maha 777+, works with NiCad, NiMh and
lithium batteries.

Jim