I supported a fleet (hundreds of units) of Li-ion battery operated computer equipment in a hospital. Batteries were a real pain. My research, backed by real world experience, is that Li-ion batteries have a rating and most live up to it. In my case, the battery life was either 5 years or 500 charges. Life was shortened if they were exposed to temps below 45 degrees or above 100 degrees. In the hospital, temps were not a big issue but the max charges got us every time. I implemented a protocol where we wrote the receipt date on each battery. All equipment received for repair where the battery was > 5 years old received a new battery. Batteries that would not charge properly were discarded because they were at end of life. Just do the math. A device used in a 7/24 unit could be charged two or even three times a day. The 500 charge life cycle limit could be exceeded in less than a year.
Li-ion batteries go bad all the time. The fix is a new battery. Resistance to the laws of physics is futile.
We both used the wrong terms. I said between the cells when I meant to say between the plates (of one cell). A battery is a bunch of cells. One of those things inside the case is a cell. A gun battery is a bunch of cannons. You are quite right. It is better to hit the shorted cells separately rather than running the "zap" through the whole pack. I think it is just a matter of convenience to hit the whole battery first to see if you can clear the short(s) without opening it up.
Zapping is strictly for NiCds. That Lithium battery internal circuitry. Is specifically to prevent over charging and over discharging. Over charged Lithim batteries overheat and do catch fire. Ask Sony and Samsung. Don't even think of trying this with a lithium battery.
The NiCd's that benefit from zapping are not reverse charged. The cells that have grown a mineral spike between the + and - plates are dead shorted and read zero. Zapping puts so much current rhrough them the spikes blow like a fuse. I am not sure if reverse charged cells can be reversed again under the right charging conditions. In either of these cases, you are just playing for time as the battery is in poor condition. There could be other spikes that have not made it all the way across and will not be affected by a zap. It is just a quick fix until you can replace them. I rebuild my NiCd packs with Tenergy cells that I find to be good quality and not expensive. A lot of the generic stuff on ebay is of questionable quality. I have not rebuilt a Lithium yet but the Pannasonic cells are supposed to be good.
It is just the NiCds with shorted cells that it does work on. Old NiCds grow mineral spikes on the plates, called dendrites. When they reach all the way from the + to the - plate, the cell is shorted. The dendrites are very thin like the element in a fuse. By momentarilly applying a high voltage source, capable of a lot of current, like a car battery or a welder or a high current battery charger the dendrite can be blown apart, like a fuse. At this point the battery is already in poor shape and other dendrites that might be close to shorting the battery are still growing and will soon create a new short. Sometimes zapping lasts for quite a while, sometimes not. It is not fake but the results are mixed. If you have an old NiCd you have little to loose. A coworker brought in a bunch of Craftsman NiCd's that we zapped. He said a couple of them were still working months later. The charged battery voltage tells you if you have shorted cells and if you hsve cleared the shorts. Each cell adds 1.2 volts to the total voltage any loss of 1.2, 2.4, 3.6 volts, etc tells you how many shorted cells you have. Old NiCd's loose capacity. Zapping does not recondition them, it only clears shorts.
