Ni cad batts cordless tools

[cardiy]

I have a drill thats about 8 years old and the ni cad batts still work even though i only use the drill maybe once every year,how long have you had your nicads batts that still work

 

[seaangler]

ive a 20year old 12v black and decker pro with one remaining working battery ( also use it in in my 20year old b&d strimmer)
quality shows

 

[cardiy]

Does it hold a good charge.

 

[seaangler]

not bad - but i do have a old b&d "pulse" charger - state of the art 20 years back ( and over £200 !!!)

 

[dolph]

I bought a 12v Wickes drill in Bedford, a place I left in 1989. It still works, a full charge lasts about30 minutes.

 

[roberta1000]

I still have a 12v B&Q drill/driver which I bought around 20 years ago. Only holds a charge for a week or so now if that, but after charging it is fine for screwdriving for an hour or 2. I still use it to save changing bits so often.

 

[ColJack]

you can aparently re-condition batteries that won't hold a charge by "zapping" them with a higher voltage than they are used to from a decent current source, such as a welder..

aparently they for some sort of crystal filaments in them that short out part of the cell.
"zapping" them with a quick overcharge burns out these filaments and restores the cell to full capacity..

 

[Monkeh]

Alternatively, it blows your battery up in your face.

 

[Paul Barker]

The memory effect which you have to defeat by pulse charging is caused by storing batteries for long periods in a fully charged state, by charging them when they already hold a reasonable charge and by overcharging them so they overheat.

The best way to keep them is in a discharged state, always use them until they are discharged before recharging them, and never over charge them.

~If these rules have not been followed diy pulse charging can be achieved by discharging a capacitor into them or a dc source of more volts. Hit the terminals as though striking an ark with a welder repeatedly for 30 seconds then allow it to cool then repeat a few times, cool, then see if battery will accept normal charger from it's own charger. Usually it will.

Well respected nicad's are still the best design of battery for power tools except in terms of weight where liion wins.

 

[ColJack]

that's probably why seeanglers batteries have lasted so long then.. the pulse charger..

my dewalt 24V has an 8 hour "conditioning" button on it..