berlingo E500 nicads

[ChrisB]

I've only got a limited number of old pre 2000 cells from the pack that went poof so I wouldnt want to really trust any of mine further than I can throw them

ChrisB

[Cogito]

I live in Norway and have never heard of SAFT nicads suffering damage from freezing top up water.
Very little water is left sitting on the ramps and water in the hoses can expand freely in the rubbber hoses.

The tops pop off when a cell/cells in the same hydraulic circuit start to reverse polarity when totally
discharged and begin to produce hydrogen. This can ignite when the cells are dry and since the filling ramps of the modules are connected with hoses, all the connected modules can be damaged.

Individual module filling is safer and many electric Clios have been adapted for this in Sweden.

[EVan]

Interesting comment by you "Ni-Cads are very robust when they are working, where lithium needs constant baby-sitting."

I'm not sure I agree with that - my 106 has been the most maintenance free car of any sort I've owned since taken into regular use with a lithium pack at the start of the year. Done about 10k miles since then.

My garage feels that 'frost damage' has caused my rear pack to shatter (all the tops of the batterys where shattered )

Doubt it.
You get the tops shattering when the cells explode (a steam explosion I think) - this occurs when they have run out of electrolyte or run hard with an un-equalised pack at low state of charge. Or sometimes it just happens anyway with the 1999 cells.