I would think so - you are not shorting it out, but getting a reasonable
current (few mA, normally) so you are loading the battery

> ----------
> From:         Scott Walsh[SMTP:Scott.WALSH@PLANTRONICS.COM]
> Reply To:     pic microcontroller discussion list
> Sent:         Thursday, November 27, 1997 8:37 AM
> To:   PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject:      Re[2]: Batteries
>
>      About putting a known load on the battery ... can you do this
> while
>      the product that is running from the battery is still working?
>
>      regards,
>      SW.
>
>
> ______________________________ Reply Separator
> _________________________________
> Subject: Re: Batteries
> Author:  tjaart@wasp.co.za at INTERNET
> Date:    26/11/97 06:45
>
>
> Andrew Mayo wrote:
> >
> > In order to reliably determine battery life, you really need to be
> able
> > to briefly switch a load across the battery which draws a
> predetermined
> > current and then measure the battery voltage. Battery manufacturers
> can
> > supply voltage/time curves for a given load, if you ask.
>
> This is exactly what we do to determine a 6 cell NiCd pack's state. I
> discharge it over a 47E resistor for 10s and measure the voltage under
> load.
>
> A few people have asked about good batteries to use lately. A very
> nice
> battery (but a bit expensive) is the Hawker (previously Gates) Cyclon
> 2V lead acid cells. They combine all the nice features of lead acids
> and NiCds.
>
> --
> Friendly Regards
>
> Tjaart van der Walt
> mailto:tjaart@wasp.co.za
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