Even though it's six years or so old, we
didn't use it a whole lot.

That is what kills these batteries. I am still using the Makita I got as a
retirement gift in 1996 but the difference is I use it all the time. The
batteries are not as strong as they used to be but it still works.

No--typical would have been for both to be bad. Consider yourself lucky that
one still works.

In article , AC/DCdude17
wrote:
We have a 12V cordless drill we bought some years ago. I'm not
exactly sure when, but the date label indicates Q4 1997, so I'm guessing
we bought it Q1 or Q2 1998. Even though it's six years or so old, we
didn't use it a whole lot. When I dragged it out to use it the other
day, I discovered one of the battery pack doesn't accept charge no matter
how many time I try it.

Does this sound like typical?

http://www.primecell.com/

Rebuilds batteries to better than factory spec. I've used them twice now and
am still impressed. My rebuilt batteries are stronger and keep a charge
longer than they did when brand new.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/08/03

"AC/DCdude17" wrote in message
We have a 12V cordless drill we bought some years ago. I'm not
exactly sure when, but the date label indicates Q4 1997, so I'm guessing
we bought it Q1 or Q2 1998. Even though it's six years or so old, we
didn't use it a whole lot. When I dragged it out to use it the other
day, I discovered one of the battery pack doesn't accept charge no matter
how many time I try it.

Does this sound like typical?

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 05:48:23 GMT, AC/DCdude17
wrote:

We have a 12V cordless drill we bought some years ago. I'm not
exactly sure when, but the date label indicates Q4 1997, so I'm guessing
we bought it Q1 or Q2 1998. Even though it's six years or so old, we
didn't use it a whole lot. When I dragged it out to use it the other
day, I discovered one of the battery pack doesn't accept charge no matter
how many time I try it.

Does this sound like typical?

Yes, for a poorly-maintained NiCd battery.

My Makita battery packs are about four years old, and I work 'em hard
five days a week.

Plenty of NiCd battery maintenance information at
http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/

The site focuses on radio controlled model aircraft flight systems,
but the NiCd information itself comes from a retired GE/Energizer NiCd
battery engineer.


Cheers,
Fred McClellan
the dash plumber at mindspring dot com