wrote:

wrote:
I have got a couple of drills, both Ni-cad and I intend to rebuild the
battery pack. Easily done, just buy the rightnumber of batteries and
wire them in series in teh pack. I presume you can do the same with
the lithium batteries etc.

Uhh, assuming the battery packs were built using standard cell sizes.
My 18V battery packs certainly don't look like they contain 15 AA cells
inside (AAA won't provide enough current).

Mike
There are a bunch more odd sizes used for rechargeables. Places like
www.digikey.com and www.mouser.com sell replacement batteries in these
sizes and will even spot weld them to the correct config you give them so
you don't have to try soldering them (bad).
Lithium Ion batteries are still hard to find though.
I priced out what it would cost to rebuild my 8 year old 9.6v makita packs
when they started getting to where they wouldn't hold a charge for very
long a couple years ago (bought the drill in 95). A new battery cost $29
then and to buy the cells it would cost me $24 per pack plus shipping to
get them to me. I just bought a couple new battery packs and bought the
angle drill kit which gave me another charger and battery so I now have
three batteries and a couple chargers plus the various drills and saws I've
picked up over the last 10 years which all share the same pack type. I put
the old batteries away so when i do need to rebuild the new ones, I'll just
rebuild all 5 at once as the cost of a new pack has gone up to $39.