>JD> I've read on more than one occassion that a new lead-acid 
 >JD> battery won't provide peak power until after a few 
 >JD> discharge/charge cycles. Not necessarily run flat, mind you, 
 >JD> just run down a ways, then recharged.
 > 
 > I'll bet that something physical happens to the plates,  during that 
 > process, that doesn't happen during the manufacture.
Roy,
 That's exactly what happens. I'm no chemist, but it has something to do with 
the chemistry of the battery. Many years ago I read about doing a science 
experiment, making a lead-acid battery by simply hanging a couple of pieces 
of pure lead in a beaker of sulphuric acid. It wouldn't do anything until you 
attempted to charge and discharge it a few times; this converted one of the 
pieces of lead to lead sulphite (sulphate, whatever, I said I'm no chemist). 
I'd imagine that the same chemistry applies in a commercial battery.
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