On Sun, 6 Aug 2006 05:38:56 -0500, (m Ransley) wrote:

:I have nicads just starting to crap out, they are Makita-Panasonic, made
:in 84- 22 yrs old, Learn your cells characteristics, don`t believe the
:drill manufacturer, they make to much money selling replacements.

I think NiCads nowadays last longer than they did many years ago. They
used to be said to last 5 years, and that's pretty much what I found.
I've had some that seem to last longer nowadays. I think it depends on
the quality of the batteries and their history of use.

I've heard stories of cell restoration - techniques for getting rid of
dentrites that short circuit cells internally. Also, there are
techniques for otherwise restoring cell capacity, I believe. The deep
cycling technique may work if used in such a manner as to NOT cause the
reverse polarity of any of the battery's cells.