On May 24, 10:55*am, Puddin' Man wrote:
On Mon, 23 May 2011 20:24:18 -0400, "Wild_Bill" wrote:

I shoulda mentioned, I'm not an electronics guy, just a tinker. Limited
(make that -very- limited) skills, eqpt.

I might've charged with the new supply 20 min. before I noticed the heat.
The drill worked a little thereafter.

To find out if the cells are shorted, the cells need to be accessed, and
individually checked with an ohm meter or an instrument capable of measuring
battery cell impedance or ESR.
Also, a reading for individual cells with voltmeter reading of zero volts
generally indicates shorted cells.

The drill still works a little. I measure about 4v aggregate from the
battery pack.

Replacing all of the cells is the most effective solution, and cells with
tabs can be soldered together in the original order, and restore full (or
even better) operation of the drill (or most cordless tools).

The usual case, not practical. Wierd cell shapes, very old unit.


If I can't tinker-fix it, it goes in the trash. Any replacement parts
either won't fit or are too expensive or both. I hate to throw
potentially useful tools away, but ...



If the pack didn't consist of 8 AA-sized NiCds I would be muchly
surprised. Anybody who can plug new AAs into a remote control, and
knows which end of a soldering pencil to hold, likely has the skill
level to rebuild a battery pack.