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PSA: I finally got my old cordless drill to hold a charge again
Tried cleaning the battery contacts with a pencil eraser after seeing a random comment online, and it actually worked for about 20 more minutes of runtime. Anyone know a more permanent fix for these old NiCad packs?
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graywright7mo ago
Ever try taking the pack apart to check the individual cells? A lot of those old packs just have one or two dead cells killing the whole thing. You can sometimes find new NiCad cells to solder in if you're handy with a soldering iron. If not, a local battery shop might rebuild it for less than a new tool.
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jason2867mo ago
My old Makita drill pack died last year and it was exactly that. Opened it up and found three of the ten NiCad cells were completely dead, reading zero volts. Honestly, it's worth cracking the plastic case just to check. I ordered some cheap replacement cells online and soldered them in myself. Took maybe an hour total and the pack works like new now. Saved me from buying a whole new tool or an overpriced battery.
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