On Jul 18, 4:30*pm, ransley wrote:
On Jul 18, 3:45*pm, Red wrote:



On Jul 18, 3:27*pm, "

wrote:

If you're handy with a soldering gun you can search the web for 'nicad
batteries', buy the ones with soldering tabs attached, and rebuild
your own battery packs.

Those aren't "soldering tabs". *They're intended to be welded. *Soldering to
the tabs *might* work, but the heat doesn't do the cells any good.

Wrong. They are called solder tabs. *See:http://www.megabatteries.com/?cat1=35
I've rebuilt several battery packs by soldering the tabs and have
never had a problem with the batteries.

Red

Any heat is a nicad killler even the heat of sun and overcharging, but
it takes time to kill them. Ive heard of freezing the cells before
soldering. I soldered a set and clipped on several heat clamps but the
cells still got real hot. Freezing is a good option but usualy by the
time you finish the cells wont fit back in the pack since factory
machine soldering is compact, my pack was a worthless mess when I
finished.

Just like soldering copper pipe correctly, there is a proper technique
to soldering battery tabs. First off is the correct heat. A 25w
pencil soldering iron is too small - it overheats the battery before
the tab is soldered. So will a big assed gun. A 40w does just fine.
If you are neat the batteries will fit back in the pack. Tin the
solder tabs. Fold the tab to overlap the adjacent tab. Snip any
excess. Use a toothpick to the 2 tabs in contact with each other while
touching the overlap with the hot soldering iron. Get off as fast as
soon as you see the solder melt. Being fast prevents heat buildup in
the battery.
Anyone who has soldered printed circuit boards without raising the
lands can easily solder battery tabs without damage. As I said, I've
rebuilt several, they fit back into the case, and the batteries work
fine. But I don't think I would try soldering the flat top batteries
because the heat requirements are vastly different from just soldering
tabs.
Red