Rejuvenating Ni-Cad batteries.
 

Anyone tried it? For a drill/driver/screw gun in this case.

There are various methods on the net involving mig welders.:D

Some say the packs will not recharge because certain cells will have polarity shifts..!? and you can jump them back into life with careful application of low duration high voltage pulses, kind of like what the Ctek chargers do?

What do'you think? Worth a try with a large face mask? I can't buy new ones as they are obsolete, the only other option is £300 on an equivalent srcew gun that will come with new batteries.

:hmmm:

What is the make/model?
I dismantled one of my Erbauer batteries recently, ( I believe NLA -- just like loads of Audi parts !! ) only to find out that inside the large black plastic case it had 10 ordinary C size NiCads, all soldered together with connector wire to form one 14.4 volt unit.
I know that 10 years ago the model aeroplane guys soldered these C batteries together, to get the correct voltage to power the motors in electric flight ( quiet! ) planes-- now we have Li ion and Li poly.

I believe that a number of the older Bosch 9.6 v drill drivers are the same , seven c cells.

First thing to note is that rechargable batteries of any chemistry don't last forever. Whether it's NiCads, NiMh's or Li-ion's they all have a lifespan beyond which they are basically junk. However, NiCads tend to be the ones which appear to be knackered soonest but can be brought back to serviceable life the easiest. The problem with NiCads is that they can suffer most from a build-up on the charge plates (like dental plaque) which prevents them from discharging properly. If this is your issue, the best way to rejuvinate them is a succession of complete charge/discharge cycles. We are not talking about one or two cycles here. More like six to ten cycles of complete charge then complete discharge. If you don't get any improvement past this, then they aren't going anywhere. I've no ideas what you could be doing with a mig welder but I can't see that helping much!:nonod:

Well I just gave it a go... on charge now. :eek: didn't blow up yet!:tup:

It's a pack with twelve 1.2V 1500mAH cells in it. You can buy them and solder them together indeed! Lets see how long the charge lasts under full load. I'll try the full discharge full charge cycle thing too! :tup:

It's the only gun I have that will drive 150mm timberfix screws, a big cheap massive hammer drill driver thing from B&Q, it's actually really well built surprisingly. I tried driving them with a little 12V Erbauer the last time I used them, it wasn't too happy about that..:lol: it almost split the gun down the middle.

What brand would you buy if you had to buy a new gun..????????? if money was no object, what is the best brand?

Try here, i have used them before, it does mean splitting the battery pack, but it is the best cure, you will need super glue lol and maybe a soldering iron.

http://www.batteriesplus.co.uk/

cheers! on favourites now!

I have a Makita D3000 right-angle drill that I bought in 1985. Just recently the Hire Shop in Sheffield got me two new batteries from Makita for £23 each. The drill was older than any of the four shop assistants.

:lol::lol: trouble is I'm finding that a lot these days. :)
There's a lovely young lady in the local dealers - we have bit of a flirt etc etc trouble is she probably young enough to be my GRANDAUGHTER:yikes:

nothing wrong with that! as long as you're not related...:lol:

makita, deeeewalter.. any more? specialist screw guns that take collated screws there's more choice but i just need an all rounder gun... do makita and dewalt keep the same terminal set up on the battery packs for many years? that's my problem with this gun, they still make them... only they change the terminal set up every two years so that you need to buy a new gun every two years..:ihih: real crafty that is..

I'm using a 1985 Makita charger with 2011 Makita batteries.

good answer! :tup: i have other makita tools, no problems so far, will have a look now.

I'm a dewalt man myself and I can share batteries between drills but they are all basically the same model so that's no surprise. I recently bought a top of the line dewalt self-levelling rotating laser lever which was described as accepting any 9.6v-18v dewalt battery and sure enough, it does......... almost......

Santa brought me an impressive new toy in the shape of a commercial grade (all metal transmission) 18v Li-ion dewalt drill and it has a totally different style and fitting for its battery which won't go in the previous drills or the laser level either.

http://www.power-tools-pro.co.uk/ima...driver-501.jpg

makita all the way at the mo

the 18v rattle driver with lio batteries will drive in 150 x 12 screws no problemo

i wouldnt touch de walt since they got taken over by black and decker and then by some other firm poor quality built down to a price imho

h t h rich

The choice of tool is down to the individual and I've heard a number of cases where Makita has been perceived to be a poorer quality than DeWalt. Just like Audi v's Merc v's BMW, there will always be advocates for each one with horror stories in abundance each way. Everything is subjective but I don't consider that a £350 cordless driver is 'built to a price'. It will certainly do what's being asked here and with 55nm of torque it's quite a beast.

If you go to maplins and the like you can get rechargable cells with soldertags attached. We used to build ni-cad packs quite a bit in my sad geeky Robot Wars days, the trick is solder them fast, using a powerful iron or solder gun, and something to sink the heat off before it can get to the cell itself, because they don't like being gently tickled together with a regular iron over a long period of time, or having a temperature difference across them.

ok..:tup:

need to decide on the easiest option then, the mig technique doesn't seem to work yet..:lol: had one on the one hour charger for three hours and it wouldn't fill up, screwed some sh*t for twenty minutes and it ran out, used to last all day. will try the ten charges/discharges option next then i'll probably buy some new cells, fook up the soldering and end up buying a new gun anyway. :lol: i can tell the future, and i can tell i won't just do the easy thing.:wierdo:

Santa didn't buy me one... but I just did! :D

Better bloody work or you're getting sued aswell as pimpdriver.. :lol: (still hasn't snowed here!)

My pal who is one here sometimes said Festool for him, but he will and does use it all day every day, too expensive for me!!!:eek: Look nifty though.

Can't wait to screw some stuff!:ihih:

Works well..:tup::tup:

Just built this thingy with it. One battery just about lasts all bl**dy day! Quite amazed.

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0065.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0110.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0128.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0197.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0270.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0318.jpg

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0331.jpg

Needs a barbecue to christen it

Yep! A few fat stains and burns and it'll be right!:lol:

does that deck just sit on the piles or did you use the meta post jobbies

just wonderd because of twisting in the timber

100x100mm metal post anchors at the ends and in the middle of the 8x2 beam things. It'll never dry out enough to warp much around here.. Rains every day.:lol:

I've just decided to not bury wood in the ground any more, it's just too wet here now, wetter than it's ever been. I put another 200 odd noggin/dwang things onto the frame but didn't take a pic of it, all held in with 150mm timberfix/timberlock bolts whatever they are called. Post anchors are located on the pads with galvanised through bolts. So much compression because of weight it shouldn't go far.. hopefully.:lol: Everywhere a 6x2 contacts the 8x2 has an angle bracket/4 x 75mm deck screws and 2 x 100mm galv. nails into the 8x2s. :D Quite strong.

This is our normal method but I won't be doing it again unless I can find slightly cheaper plastic lumber for the posts instead of larch.

Suspend the frame on blocks and dig holes,
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/.../DSCF0078a.jpg

Fit posts to frame and GEN1 concrete right under them eight inches, (all cuts dipped in 'cuprinol trade' overnight)
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/.../DSCF0090a.jpg

I put noggins in wherever a newel post hits the outer joist.

Once it's set remove the blocks and build sh*t!
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...1/DSCF0006.jpg

When we fit these 'jewson' handrails we build them then take them apart and glue them together with marine polyurethane because these handrails are sh*t basically! Wouldn't stop a two year old at a gallop let alone a twenty stone p*ss head...:lol:

Full planning application above 500mm and full building warrant above 1200mm, for anyone who has a habit of searching for decking info. on battery threads on audi websites..:smilewinkgrin: That's why I build all mine about 495mm..:D