Background:
So many new things in IC2 use the item durability bar, either as a charge meter for batteries, or a heat meter for nuclear reactor parts. In vanilla minecraft when an item is first crafted the bar doesn't show up so you know when it has full durability. Likewise, when the durability runs out the item is destroyed.
The problem:
This behavior is changed in IC2 where even newly crafted items (full durability) show the durability bar and when they are empty the item sticks around, again with the bar showing. This bar is so small that it doesn't come close to having the detail necessary to show the difference between a full and nearly full item or between an empty and nearly empty item. This becomes an issue when you have to use one of these items in a crafting recipe, or as a component in a miner, as if it's not 100% full it doesn't count.
Proposed solution:
I'm proposing adding a behavior change to the durability bar. When it is fully charged have the entire bar colored solid blue. First time it's used switch to the normal green to red color changing bar. Then when completely empty change the entire bar to red. Those color changes can help make a player more aware of the charge levels of their items. As an added bonus to you hopefully it will reduce bug reports down the line from people thinking recipes are broken because they are trying to use components with a slightly less than perfect durability.