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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Ni-Cad battery revival
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| Georgen Guru  Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Read about Ni-Cad battery revival by 8 to 10 short bursts of much higher DC voltage to burn the little metallic hair created inside the battery during charging and draining process. Is it true that 24V can fix the 12V Ni-Cad battery and extend its life? George |
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norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Don`t know about 24v. But have had some success with puting the battery in the freezer for a couple of days than recharging on high amps when it thaws out. Sounds crazy but apparently the freezing-thawing out than recharging breaks down the crystals that form over time. One bad side effect of doing this is when the Missus finds batteries in the freezer she`s likely to call those fellows with white suits who insists you wear sleevless shirts. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Thanks for the tip ( Actually two tips  )
George |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Battery jumped to freezer yesterday, got 'discovered' today and will be out tomorrow. Hope my 12V Pulse Battery will give enough amperage connected directly to thawed out Ni-Cad one. If it doesn't come good after one freeze, should I turf it or try freezing cycles few times more? George |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
I assume you were "discovered" and will be out of the sleeveless shirt tomorrow. 
You can try a couple of freezes, have you a nicad cycler? Make sure you let it get up to room temp before you charge. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
No cycler, just charger for this 12V cordless drill battery. (It says 15V 400mA) So to give it higher amperage I have to use 12V battery charger or put it directly on 12V battery. George |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
NiCad battery taken off 4A charger, after 30 minutes was down to 1.5V Started to look at installation of 10 AA NiMh 1.2V rechargeable batteries in place of those NiCad's. One immediate benefit that there will be no problem with memory. Long life ones will hold charge for at least 6 months. Current NiCad's are quite stout compared to AA's, but it says on them 1.2V 1000mA so my AA 1800mA will hold almost twice the charge, despite that they look half the size. I am also thinking of some spring loaded way, to keep all cells not connected in series while not in use. To stop continuos flow of current toward weaker cells. Does it make sense, or it doesn't matter? George |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Take it results from freezing were negative, shame it sometimes gives surprising results. Sanyo Eneloop LSD NiMh have found them excellant for holding power, bit expensive but. Hobbyking have LSD NiMh in both AA and AAA at very good prices, but only in their Hong Kong depot not here in OZ. So you`ll have to wait a while for the snail paced Int post. Having not used them cannot vouch for them. But have found Hobby King gear of acceptable quality. If you get LSD (low self discharge) NiMh see no need for keeping them dissconnected whilst not in use. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Try putting Cane Toads in the freezer! That's the recommended humane way to dispose of them. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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yahoo2 Guru Joined: 05/04/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1166 |
George, You are about to wander into the perfect catch 22 situation. I went through the same thought process you are having right now and had a lot of failures. Eventually I purchased some tabbed sub-c nicd batteries thinking I would revamp two battery packs for a much loved cordless drill. They are still sitting on the shelf. 
The pack charger I had was primitive and would have damaged the new batteries, the effort and cost to modify it, for me, was more than the cost of a new drill with a good charger. There are only three solutions that work in my mind. Repack with high power nimh sub-C's, gut the charger base and leave the wires to the spring loaded battery connectors, buy a hobby charger that will charge the new pack and set it all up. Stick a cord on it and run it from a SLA battery (reversing the polarity will toast the speed control BTW) Buy a tool that has a quality charger and a battery pack connector layout that is as common as dirt. The model I eventually decided on will charge nicd, nimh and li-ion's. It has just been superseded, so there are a lot of reasonable value battery packs and skins for it on the market at the moment. Time for me to stock up! 
I'm confused, no wait... maybe I'm not... |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Yeah, if you wish to get away from nicd`s. Here`s a couple of alternatives. One on left is a 12v gel cell(easy to charge) one on right is LiPo4.(needs a special balancer-charger) Can vouch for the gel cell,gave many years of service. LiPo4 is only new and should be the bees knees. Place battery in pouch on belt around waist. Pull battery apart and solder wire to terminals. Cane toads in the freezer do not attract the blokes in white anything like batteries.  We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| jack fork stik Newbie  Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
yeah ive been putting cords for connection to sla batteries for years now and they really go hard when you put a 12v drill on 24v with testing cells i just measure between the cells to find the bad cells and ive found keeping the good cells usefull for putting in torches etc and using a old modile phone charger to recharge them.just my way of getting the most out of things even if it came from the dump shop for $2 |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
I've got few spare cords but always worried, that somebody else might plug it to 240V socket. Practically Australian 240V plug is quite good for 12V application, as you can plug it only one way, but what is next best way to 'inexpensively' make 12V plug and socket? George |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
They are not real expensive but Anderson plug/socket will only go one way (provided you've wired it up right in the first place. You can also get Oz 240 plugs/sockets with a round earth pin instead of the flat one, so it can't be plugged into 240v unless you already have one wired to 240vac. On no account would I recommend using an ordinary Oz 240 plug - Silicon Chip got hammered on this subject when it did an article on Microwave oven PCB UV box. David M. |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
That plug in photo is a Clipsal 32v polarised 2 pin plug. Would never use or advise people to use 240v plugs on low voltage. A big NO NO from a safety perspective. Even the cable is not 3 core but 2 core 2.5mmsq. The Anderson plugs as MOBI advises are more readily available nowdays, I`d go for them. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Good rule, (better worry than be sorry). Wasn't going to get another NiCad for my hand drill, but could not refuse the bargain that has 1 year warranty and because of damaged cardboard box was even marked down further. So I am reluctant owner of brand new 12V battery. Is there the best way to care for it and use it, so battery has good chance to last longer? George |
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| jack fork stik Newbie Joined: 08/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 34 |
George check my post charging batteries from the car and yahoo2 provided a link for cheap 50a anderson plugs,$20 for 10 plus $9 post,all you need is a paypal account.same thing at jaycar $10 a piece.i dont need 10 right now but ill think of uses for them |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Thank you, found the link http://www.sidewinder.com.au/page16.html As to NiCad battery charging regime, I am bit surprised that I did not look for this information before. Appears that NiCad battery should be charged fast and not stored more than few days before use. In storage should be 100% discharged and even have terminals shorted with bar for few hours. And best if kept in storage at 0 deg C. Bringing back to life is quite an art too. What surprised me most that it is recommended to treat that INDIVIDUAL CELLS, not battery packs. Not sure how to do that with 12V battery pack for drill. Got that info from here: http://users.frii.com/dlc/battery.htm George |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
If you check Hobby King you will find cheap battery chargers that handle NiCd, NiMh, Pb and Li batteries, all in one unit. They will allow you to cycle Nicd etc batteries and that is very important, they will give you an option on the number of discharge and charge cycles, with logging which will show the advantage of cycling Nicd and NiMh batteries. I have found these chargers to be good value, especially for conditioning and knowing the condition of Nicd`s, NiMh`s. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| Georgen Guru Joined: 13/09/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 462 |
Found 2 chargers/dischargers one for DC only and another for mains and DC http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__30711__IMAX_B6_AC _Charger_Discharger_1_6_Cells_GENUINE_AUS_Warehouse_.html George |
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