Typically aqueous based battery technology allows for float charging.  Float charging is a charge condition where the battery is continuously charged at a low current level sufficient to not cause damage to the battery.  Float charging is often used to balance the cells in a series string or “stack.”  The premise is that lithium-ion batteries are a paradigm shift from aqueous based batteries due to their unique operating mechanism.  The question “why is float charging not always desirable?” came about and testing and analysis was performed on batteries subjected to float charging over a three month period.  The cells were evaluated at an electrode level using cell cross sectioning as well as optical and electron microscopy techniques. This presentation describes charge algorithms and also the observations obtained from the tests that were performed.