discharging nicad batteries?

[gothika]

I have some 9.6v nicad batteries for a cordless drill.
What is the best way to completely discharge these before
recharging?(I use a 12v tail light bulb for some 12v nicads but don't
think that would work in this case.)
I've seen a home brew box used to rapidly discharge badly formed
nicads thereby restoring them to some usable state.
Anyone know what it'd take to build one of these, or where I might
purchase one?
Thanks in advance for any assist.

 

[Guest]

2. Be very careful not to deep-discharge the battery, this can do

irreparable damage, so the bulb method is not such a good idea.

Sorry, I forgot to say the most important thing: to avoid deep-discharge,
discharge the battery to 80 pecent of it's stated voltage, i.e. for a 1.2V
battery, you would discharge to 1V but no more. I guess for 9.6 you
should stop the discharge at about 7.7V.