Gil, I wonder if a place like batteries plus could rebuild them more cheaply than buying the components?
earlier, Gil Laster, wrote: > > >Somewhere I came across an article on the >Internet about reviving NiCd batteries (nickel >cadmium) that no longer hold a charge. The >method is to "jolt" them by applying a voltage >equal to or a little greater than the battery >rating. The current is to be 1-amp for >30-seconds. This dissipates a kind of chemical >cobweb in the battery that forms over time, >especially when the battery is used >infrequently, shorting it out. After the jolting >the battery is to be charged normally. > >I have a 5-year-old 18-volt drill that came with >two standard NiCd batteries. They worked well >for about 3-years and then began less faithfully >holding a charge, eventually becoming useless. >2-years ago A replacement NiCd battery was about >$60. This annoyed me because I originally paid >$80 for the drill kit and could go buy another >for about the same price. What a waste of a good >drill to trash it because of the price of >batteries, so I procrastinated. Today there is >no replacement battery available for the drill, >but I could rebuild the battery using individual >sub-C high capacity NiMh (nickel metal hydride) >batteries for about $65. A few days ago as a >last resort I tried the jolt method on the dead >batteries. It worked! It did, however, take four >charge/discharge cycles for the batteries to >reach full capacity. For a Power supply I used >my home's doorbell power supply transformer >(estimated 1-amp capacity, transformers are >current self-limiting),a full wave bridge >rectifier, and 4-jumper leads. A talking volt >meter was used to make sure that I got polarity correct. > >Caution: Current must be limited in amount and >duration. Too much could cause overheating or worse, an explosion. > >- Gil Laster, Charlotte, NC > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > John [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
