Originally Posted by rwk32882
Generally no, however, there can be one exception to this rule.
On some "smart" lithium-ion/polymer battery packs, their management circuitry will measure how much energy has flowed in or out of the battery. This energy accounting is use to keep track of the battery's state-of-charge (SOC) or, how "full" it is.
If this energy counter gets out of calibration you can often reset it by fully discharging then charging the pack. In some cases, this will improve the runtime of a laptop or cellphone as it's internal circuitry has a better idea as to the real SOC of the battery.
Efrem: 2.53MM?!?! My god...one day I'll have that many miles behind me!
Program miles. Flown miles are another matter. Some AA folks are already above 10MM. I'm at 2.7MM and as of the end of 2001 had precisely zero. I'd still be at zero, wouldn't have elite status AND would've missed out on a ton of fun, enjoyment and travel had it not been for FT. 100% of the credit goes here.
To the original poster, one note. Lithiums DO NOT like being discharged for long and they don't take well to being deep-discharged. I'm describing deep discharge as 'turning on the device and seeing only a brief flash of activity before it dies'.
This problem is compounded by the fact that lithium batteries self-discharge faster than other technologies. Mind you I'm talking about over a matter of months here but if you have a cellphone/camcorder/what have you that gets used rarely you need to be mindful. The battery will kill itself and when you go to charge it could well be left with only 10-15% of it's former capacity if it even takes a charge.
As a rule they DO NOT need to be absolutely drained and it shortens their life to do so. Two full cycles should be enough to recalibrate a battery that seems to have lost life. If it doesn't come back after that... it's time to toss it and get a new one. It's enough to drain the battery to the point where the device shuts itself down. At that point, you should charge the battery IMMEDIATELY. Storing the device that way is a sure way to kill the battery off.