Charging NiCad Batteries

[High Desert Ranger]

I have a 12v Black and Decker Cordless Drill that is about 18 months old. I don't hardly ever use it.

Now when I charge it, the drill works for like 5 minutes and then needs to be charged again.

Is there a better charger for these kind of batteries?

Or have my batteries died?

 

[scotts90ranger]

the best type of charger is a peak detecting charger, mainly used for RC hobbies. there's chargers out there like the electrifly triton jr that will charge 1 to 24 cells NICD, you just set them at a charge rate, and for the right type of battery (it'll handle lead acid, NICD, NIMH, and Lithium Ion/polymer batteries), the only down side of most of these chargers is they need a 12v power supply (spare car battery, old computer power suply, or something else that's dedicated with clean power)

you can either find these chargers on ebay or say towerhobbies.com

they might have been designed for hobby use, but I use my triton charger to charge pretty much anything with batteries... they do have some limitations though, sometimes the batteries are below their expected voltage, so I have to jump start some very drained batteries with another battery pack of near the same voltage for a couple minutes (I wouldn't suggest this on any lithium battery, but have at it on nicd, nimh and lead acid)

 

[High Desert Ranger]

the best type of charger is a peak detecting charger, mainly used for RC hobbies. there's chargers out there like the electrifly triton jr that will charge 1 to 24 cells NICD, you just set them at a charge rate, and for the right type of battery (it'll handle lead acid, NICD, NIMH, and Lithium Ion/polymer batteries), the only down side of most of these chargers is they need a 12v power supply (spare car battery, old computer power suply, or something else that's dedicated with clean power)

you can either find these chargers on ebay or say towerhobbies.com

they might have been designed for hobby use, but I use my triton charger to charge pretty much anything with batteries... they do have some limitations though, sometimes the batteries are below their expected voltage, so I have to jump start some very drained batteries with another battery pack of near the same voltage for a couple minutes (I wouldn't suggest this on any lithium battery, but have at it on nicd, nimh and lead acid)

Can they handle different output voltages, like 14.4v or 19.6v volts?

 

[metalmacguyver]

When he says 1-24 cells that means it will charge 1.2v, 2.4v, 3.6v, 4.8v, 6.0v, 7.2v, 8.4v, 9.6v, 10.8v, 12v, 13.2v, 14.4v, 15.6v, 16.8v, 18v, 19.2v, 20.4v, 21.6v, 22.8v, 24v, 25.2v, 26.4v, 27.6v, and 28.8v battery packs.


For Nicad battery packs, they should always be discharged as far as possible before recharging. When you charge them, you should make sure to charge them completely. repeated partial charging and discharging leads to a "memory" effect and the batteries end up not holding a charge like they should.

To recondition them you can try fast charging them and fast draining them. To fast charge them you will need a good charger like the one that scotts90ranger suggested or any one of a number of other good hobby quality chargers. To fast discharge them you can get a couple headlight bulbs and hook them up in parallel so that they draw lots of current from the batteries. do this till they are nearly dead and then charge them at a fairly high current, perhaps as much as 5A. Make sure to let the batteries cool between cycles as not to over heat them. This should significantly improve the batteries performance. One thing that you can do to keep them performing well is to dispose of the charger that came with the drill. Those wall chargers that charge slowly and dont stop wont help the batteries either.

 

[High Desert Ranger]

When he says 1-24 cells that means it will charge 1.2v, 2.4v, 3.6v, 4.8v, 6.0v, 7.2v, 8.4v, 9.6v, 10.8v, 12v, 13.2v, 14.4v, 15.6v, 16.8v, 18v, 19.2v, 20.4v, 21.6v, 22.8v, 24v, 25.2v, 26.4v, 27.6v, and 28.8v battery packs.


For Nicad battery packs, they should always be discharged as far as possible before recharging. When you charge them, you should make sure to charge them completely. repeated partial charging and discharging leads to a "memory" effect and the batteries end up not holding a charge like they should.

To recondition them you can try fast charging them and fast draining them. To fast charge them you will need a good charger like the one that scotts90ranger suggested or any one of a number of other good hobby quality chargers. To fast discharge them you can get a couple headlight bulbs and hook them up in parallel so that they draw lots of current from the batteries. do this till they are nearly dead and then charge them at a fairly high current, perhaps as much as 5A. Make sure to let the batteries cool between cycles as not to over heat them. This should significantly improve the batteries performance. One thing that you can do to keep them performing well is to dispose of the charger that came with the drill. Those wall chargers that charge slowly and dont stop wont help the batteries either.

Sounds like what i need to do. Good thing is I can cut the cord of the factory wall charger and adapt it for the suggested hobby charger.

 

[gbadgley]

The worst thing you can do to a battery is not use it. I would guess the batteries are about junk. Want a couple of 12v snapons to go with them! Greg

 

[LearjetMinako]

Worst thing to do is not to the use batteries. Batteries left unused go bad easily and most likely will not charge up to specs. Its mostly likely time to upgrade your old drill and get a new one.

I have bulk supply of AA & D NiMHs. Every month, I cycle charge them to make sure they stay fresh. I use the Duratrax ICE charger and Integy PS 12v 10A. Any time I find a battery cell that can't reach 75% of its capacity, I toss that cell in the trash.