A lot of good info here, but I have some also to offer.

The key problem is "lightly used" - that means the NiCd cells will develop a
memory, unlike more modern ones. A memory of being charged, then
leak-discharged, then trickle charged, etc, etc. The only good way around
avoiding this, is using (as others have said) a discharge cycle (or use to
flat) before recharging, and not leaving them flat.

The age of the cells has NOTHING to do with the expected performance, as
long as you have cycled them properly. I have NiCd cells still working
strongly from the mid nineties.

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In article ,
Dan_Musicant wrote:
I have a Panasonic 12v (NiCads) cordless drill/driver with 2 batteries
and it seems to me that the batteries aren't holding a charge very well.
They are around 3-4 years old, lightly used. They seem to charge too
quickly. If I leave them in the charger after the charger shows them as
fully charged and let them trickle charge, will that top them up? I
haven't been doing that.

Is this a loss of capacity of the batteries? Is there some way I can
restore the capacity of the batteries? Any experience with these? Thanks
for any ideas, info, suggestions, etc.

Dan

Some chargers have a diagnostic or "tune-up" mode that may help if you
leave the batteries in for an extended time, so it's worth trying.
Unfortunately, at 3 to 4 years it would be common to see some
degradation in the performance of a nicad, regardless of how much use
they have had.




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Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland