Accumulator capacity meter. An example of wire-arrangement.

Scheme of Accumulator
      capacity meter.
(explanation for the scheme)

 
I use 30-40 NiMh accumulators in my gadgets. They have already work more than 100 cycles of discharge and feel well. Once a year I measure their capacity, and 2-3 cells occur bad - their capacity is 2 times less than their mark.

I met some common reasons why an accumulator decreased its capacity too soon.

1) Overdischarge of an accumulator, which is left too long in a turned-on gadget.

2) Overheat of an accumulator because of too high charging current if not proper charger is used.

3) Accumulators may become bad because of self-discharge if they are not in use for long time.

 
18 checked accumulators GP
A simpler scheme for 1 element AA or AAA was used to label these accumulators.