Resuscitating Milwaukee 18v Nicad tools using adapter

[paredown]

Tried to search, but could not find specifics. I still have my original Milwaukee 18v Nicad set (small circ saw, swazall, drill) and have stopped using it as the batteries finally succumbed. (Tried getting the batteries rebuilt--with no success--they did not hold their charge, crapped out pretty fast, finally lost charge fully and now will not start charging even if you try to "shock" them)

I picked up an M12 drill and driver and couple of other M12 tools on the cheap to keep me going, but have not had the heart to toss the old 18v Nicad (for that matter, the Milwaukee 12/14.4 either, or the old Dewalt 12....)

Looked on eBay today, and I see that someone is selling a ready-to-go adapter that will let you use the M18 batteries on a number of the old 12v Nicad tools:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Milwaukee-...814137?hash=item23a3d9c839:g:zwsAAOSw77pa7vM-

There's a second one that I remembered seeing before, where you need to salvage the top off the old Nicad and splice it onto the supplied adapter to use the M18:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Milwaukee-...802877?hash=item3ad1ca5afd:g:qx0AAOSwcUBYFJaT

Has anyone tried either of these adapters, or some other solution to keep their Nicad tools going--mine had light use in the time I had them so it seems a shame to get rid of them.

 

[mrvm]

The adapter is large and bulky but should work transferring M18 power. If your handy your dead Ni-cad battery cases could be repurposed similarly.

 

[pstemari]

I'm surprised you had problems with rebuilt battery packs. I've taken mine to Interstate Batteries and they've done a great job.

They'll also switch out NiCd for NiMH low self discharge cells, which is a huge improvement.

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[6PTsocket]

I'm surprised you had problems with rebuilt battery packs. I've taken mine to Interstate Batteries and they've done a great job.

They'll also switch out NiCd for NiMH low self discharge cells, which is a huge improvement.

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The regular sub C NiMh cells have more capacity than NiCd's but they have other issues, like discharging faster than a NiCd and fewer cycle life. That is the reason almost nobody except Makita ever used them commercially. The low self discharge NiMh are, to the best my knowledge, only made in button top AAA and AA. The best AA are the Eneloop pro and are somewhere around 2500 mah but I know of no one who soldered or spot welded them into a pack.

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[dacan23]

The do have LSD C and D cells, even 9vs. I use the D's in my MrBeams lights.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FHVR8KC/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0148675HW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

The regular sub C NiMh cells have more capacity than NiCd's but they have other issues, like discharging faster than a NiCd and fewer cycle life. That is the reason almost nobody except Makita ever used them commercially. The low self discharge NiMh are, to the best my knowledge, only made in button top AAA and AA. The best AA are the Eneloop pro and are somewhere around 2500 mah but I know of no one who soldered or spot welded them into a pack.

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[kctyphoon]

Just buy aftermarket batteries if you wanna try to convince yourself that its not worth it to just upgraded.