conditioning batteries

Hey Teru – you should charge then refresh the battery three times in a row. There’s an article here that outlines it:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-4059-4110

It also helps to do a refresh/charge cycle once a month or so.

We just got a whole bunch of new batteries at work….we refreshed/charged them three times in a row before using them…

right on, will do - thanks a lot.

hey, I’m stll confused —
on my battery charger, the only buttons I see are for "calibration", not "refresh". and the instuction maual says not to recharge a fully charged battery.
this is the D2X rig, not the D1X rig. MH21 quick charger.

The D2 batteries are different from the D1 batteries. I think they are using a different type of cell in them. My understanding is the EN-EL4 need to be completely discarched before they are charged for the first time. I’ve got two EN-EL4’s…one arrived with a charge and needed to be discharged before it was charged for the first time. The other came already drained. You should run the battery down before charging it again. and the "calibration" function on the charger is different from the "refresh" on the old chargers.

If this is your first experience with the EN-EL4 you’re gonna love ‘em. Mine last for about 5 -6 days of moderate shooting on a single charge. With the old D1 EN4’s I felt lucky if my charge lasted 2 hours.

D2-series batteries are lithium-ion and a huge stepup from the Nickel Metal Hydride batteries  in the D1 series. 
You can do the do the 3-cycle charge/discharge.  My 1-year old EN-EL4s are still going strong without the conditioning.

Lihtium-ions should never be completely discharged. 

More info here:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

and:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/