Glossary for frequently used terms
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M
Maintenance-Free Battery
1) A flooded lead-acid battery to which water cannot be added to maintain the electrolyte level. This typically refers to automotive batteries that have extra electrolyte added to compensate for water loss during normal operation.
2) Although the term applies to a specific type of flooded battery, non-flooded sealed and valve-regulated lead-acid battery types are sometimes referred to as “maintenance free”, since they require no water to replenish their electrolyte.
Memory/Memory Effect
Erroneously believed to be the observed effect of capacity loss in a nickel-cadmium battery that had “remembered” the level of successive shallow discharges and then only being able to provide capacity to that “remembered” level. The modern definition of memory commonly refers to a gradual and progressive change in crystalline formations from the desirable small size to a large size. Two likely causes for this problem are prolonged use without a full discharge and long term storage on a trickle charger. A series of full discharge/charge cycles may reverse the problem where it exists. Scheduled exercising will help prevent the problem from occurring. See Exercising.
Milliampere-Hour, milliamphour (mAh)
A unit of battery capacity equal to 1/1000th of an ampere-hour (Ah). See Ampere-Hour.
