You are correct Rob, NiMh batteries don't have near the memory of NiCd, but they do still have a memory. Best thing you can do is store them for long periods at about 20% capacity (discharge them almost completely dead) and store them like that.
Those were the last batteries that needed to be "run in" like you mentioned. LiPo, LiIo and others don't need it anymore. NiCd was the #1 battery cell to do a hard run in because the faster you could get the power out and back in then back out again, the faster it would continue to do so. Charge slow, and it would discharge slow. Charge fast and it would discharge fast. We charged these things (NiCd) when I was racing at about 10 amps just to pack the power in them. They got very hot while charging so you had to run multiple fans on them or they would explode lol.
For your friend, tell him to discharge his packs to nothing (dead short) with a standard brake light (about a 2a discharge at 12v). Maybe not completely dead shorted, but at least very little glow. Then charge them up with the highest amp rating that pack can handle. They will get hot, get read for that. But after about 5 cycles he should get some life back out of them. Or, if they are cheap, just replace them lol.
