"Wild_Bill" wrote in
:

Don't overcharge battery packs. One of the best ways to prevent
overcharging is to use a manually reset timer to limit the amout of
time for charging. Don't over-discharge battery packs. When the
device/tool starts to run slower, stop using it and recharge the
battery pack.

Many rechargeable consumer devices are supplied with very poor quality
chargers (just a transformer and a diode was the cheapest method).
If you can't get a reasonable service life from the battery packs, you
might consider choosing another method of charging the battery,
whether that means removing it to connect it to a better quality
charger, or modifying the device with an external connector for safely
connecting a better quality charger.

My wife & I each have coldless drills, which we use intermitently for
household repairs & projects. The only way to make sure we have a
charged battery handy for emergencies is to leave one in the chargers.
Even though these are reasonably high quality chargers (Ryobi & DeWalt),
I'm sure we are shortening the life of the batteries.

It occured to me that one option might be to put the chargers on a timer,
so that they are on for half an hour a day. That should top them off,
without cooking them. The catch is that I'm not sure what sort of load
the charger presents when it is off. I could just end up discharging the
battery through (at a minimum) diode leakage. As long as the leakage is
low, that might actually be OK, ot it could produce a nasty memory effect
in the NiCd's.

Any thoughts or comments?

Thanks!

Doug White