My Dewalt 18v batteries have slowly been headed south. One is shorted and
two others last about 5 min. in a drill. Batteries Plus wants $50 to
rebuild the battery and new ones cost about $65.

Today I went to Harbor Freight and purchased a 18v battery ($14.99) for
their drill and then went home opened up the DeWalt and Harbor Freight
battery packs. They have the same individual cells (15 x 1.2v), but the
individual cells are spot welded together with a strap which keeps them in a
fixed position. I can't force the Harbor Freight batteries into the format
of the DeWalt pack.

The last time I tried to solder batteries together it didn't work. Anyone
know how to cut the straps and solder the batteries back together?