Slacker Environmentalist #2: Buying a NiCd battery pack to extend equipment life

The best way to recycle NiCad batteries is the way suggested by Bitbanger. Hit each cell with about 10 amps for a very short time, and the cell usually will come back to life. I have done this for years with good results. Some battery packs have an internal fuse, so you may have to disassemble the battery pack.

Stiggle said: "The drill batteries ususaly have sub-C cells but I can usually fit AA NiMH cells as replacements with similar if not higher capacity compared to the NiCds they replace" Capacity is one thing - but impedance is another. No way a AA has as low impedance as a C cell. In a high power drain drill you won't get anywhere near the stalling torque with a higher impedance battery pack. This trick will work on low drain applications, but not a big drill. Course - maybe it's just me being too tough on my drill, but I stall it all the time! I can never have enough torque! ;-) My 2 cents worth.

Disposing of Nicad [and I suspect NiMH] cells isn't a real problem. Many years ago I worked for a NiCad Mfr and we sent all the scrap cells to a steel works, where they put them in the blast furnace and were glad of them as the constituents made a nice balancing charge [no pun intended] to enable the metalurgists to get the melt composition exactly where they needed it.

NiCd should be probably outlawed , now that we know that cadmium is strictly related to cause kidney cancer.It was a good decision to buy a replacement, although I would look for NiMH which is safer. I understand a statement about drill.Made in Japan, powerful and dependable.I have a 12 V makita which I converted to NiMH (Duracell 2850 mAh) and it works just great. There is an easy way to build an inexpensive automatic charger,because original Makita chargers were not a best thing....I have a 20 year old Milwaukee electric screwdrivers that may be restiored.As far as replacing ANY NiCds with NiCd it will never happen in my house.I wish that 20 years ago we would all know about cadmium what we know now.The greatest thing is that you are a wonderful lady - men's dream! Woman , who likes to buy electronic stuff!!!! WOW!!! ~~~~~~

In the RBRC battery chemistry list above, "Li-Zinc" should have been "Ni-Zinc."

I, too, had to retire an almost 20+ year old Makita drill and batteries, but because the NiCd replacement packs were still good (I had replaced them several times over the years), I donated the entire drill to the local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store (www.habitat.org/env/restores). The new Li-Ion battery tools have more power an better runtime, so if you use your drill a lot, it's worth the money for a new one.

You can recycle any rechargeable battery pack of any chemistry, (including NiCd, NiMH, Li-Ion, Li-Zinc, and small sealed lead (Pb)) through the non-profit Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation program (www.call2recycle.org). There are more than 50,000 retail partner locations nationwide (including major tool retailers), and it's as easy as dropping your old battery off in the drop box at the store.

I had the same problem with a Ryobi drill & saw kit - dead Nicads. I took the battery pack apart and jolted each cell with an automotive battery charger (12 V, 10 A rating) for about 300 ms each. It works again, and it's a lot less expensive.

Don't stock up on too many CCFL bulbs either. The environmentalists will soon be back to outlaw them after they discover (shock!!!) that they contain dangerous mercury. Chasing environmental goodness is like hunting fairies. Good for you for restoring the Makita!