battery question
- Thread starter brownbagg
- Start date
they may need to be zapped to take a charge. you tube has videos on zapping ni-cad
they may be junk too. try & see if they will charge
they may be junk too. try & see if they will charge
PhysicsDude
Well-known member
They're probably toast.....
Rebuilt/aftermarket older Makita batteries are readily available for ~$20 or less all over the internet.
Rebuilt/aftermarket older Makita batteries are readily available for ~$20 or less all over the internet.
If you want to restore it for nostalgia's sake, open the battery pack to see what you have. I agree it's more likely to be around 7.2V. You can get sub-C tabbed NiCd cells on ebay and elsewhere, but of course you have to have a working charger and may need the contacts on it cleaned if it otherwise still works.
You may even need to open the drill and clean the oxidized commutator and lube the bearings and gears. The switch itself may need attention now too. A lot can happen in 36 years.
Beyond nostalgia, it's not worth the bother. NiCd still has the same issues that made us all move to Li-Ion, and tools got better year after year. Depending on the design, I could see buying 6 x sub-C cells to rebuild it yourself for cordless screwdriver duty, but it would trade performance for low cost.
Zapping shorted NiCd is usually only a short term solution for cells with permanently degraded capacity, which will that much sooner go flat and reverse charge in series in a high current tool. It's a novelty (kids science experiment sort of) thing to do and not worth the bother except in some strange emergency case where you must get something done immediately and for some reason, only that tool alone can save the day.
You may even need to open the drill and clean the oxidized commutator and lube the bearings and gears. The switch itself may need attention now too. A lot can happen in 36 years.
Beyond nostalgia, it's not worth the bother. NiCd still has the same issues that made us all move to Li-Ion, and tools got better year after year. Depending on the design, I could see buying 6 x sub-C cells to rebuild it yourself for cordless screwdriver duty, but it would trade performance for low cost.
Zapping shorted NiCd is usually only a short term solution for cells with permanently degraded capacity, which will that much sooner go flat and reverse charge in series in a high current tool. It's a novelty (kids science experiment sort of) thing to do and not worth the bother except in some strange emergency case where you must get something done immediately and for some reason, only that tool alone can save the day.
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