It looks like a good job Denis.
Can I ask how much the 12 Tenergy cells cost. I've done some similar rebuilds with the cheapest sub-c's I could find on ebay, with "so so" results/
Anyone replacing Nicad batteries?
- Thread starter Mike007
- Start date
Can I ask how much the 12 Tenergy cells cost. I've done some similar rebuilds with the cheapest sub-c's I could find on ebay, with "so so" results/
It looks like a good job Denis.
Can I ask how much the 12 Tenergy cells cost. I've done some similar rebuilds with the cheapest sub-c's I could find on ebay, with "so so" results/
I got two lots of these from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009WXZMIG/?tag=atomicindus08-20
They were lots of 15 NiCd cells (approx $2 per cell, not counting shipping).
I might have gotten Panasonics, but I've heard that there are many counterfeits. I've purchased Chinese battery packs in the past (no-name batteries inside) with poor performance.
It looks like a good job Denis.
Can I ask how much the 12 Tenergy cells cost. I've done some similar rebuilds with the cheapest sub-c's I could find on ebay, with "so so" results/
I don't know if you've seen these (protection circuits for Li-ion packs):
http://www.batteryjunction.com/pcb.html
They're intriguing. At least they monitor individual cells so it won't blow up if you happen to put in mismatched cells. I haven't dissected many Li-ion packs, I understand that many protection circuits bulk charge the pack (no individual cell monitoring). I don't know if they're phasing out those types of protection circuits, but I know enough to know the dangers of putting in mismatched cells in those types of packs.
Yeh, they look just like the protection circuits in the laptop packs I've pulled apart. I've never rebuilt a Li-ion pack though.
Farmall450
Well-known member
Same boat here as well.
Last year I rebuilt one of the packs for my old 14.4V drill with the cheapest NiCd's I could find on ebay and it only cost me about $20. It works reasonably well, though it probably lacks just a little bit of grunt compared to the originals. Overall I think it was worth doing.
Now however I've got a 24 volt GMC drill with both packs pretty much out for the count. NiCd prices have gone up and I can't see any way of rebuilding for less than about $45 per pack, with even the very cheapest ebay cells, (and considerably more if I want premium cells).
Honestly I just can't see the point of spending too much money on rebuilding old NiCd stuff when for not much more I can get a very decent new 18V (20Vmax) Li-Ion drill with two new packs. I'm the sort of guy who likes to fix old stuff and keep things going, so this really pains me, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the most economically rational thing to do is to throw it in the garbage and buy new. And the drill itself is basically in as good as new condition. Sob sob.
You just get any nicad cells?
Yeah I just got the cheapest (Hong Kong) ones I could find on ebay. Something like theses ones:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12-Pcs-S...ronics_Batteries_Chargers&hash=item2a0fbf985c
First time I used them they were only about $1.50 each with free postage, so repacking 14.4V (12 cells) was pretty reasonable. Last time I went to repack a 24V pack (20 cells) they'd gone up to over $2.00 per cell, making the economics of it a lot more marginal.
In the end I did repack one of the 24V packs for about $40. I was going to throw it out, but then I realized it was the only cordless drill I have with the larger 13mm chuck (others are only 10mm), so I decided to keep it going.