NiCd cell replacements

[Andy K]

I will be replacing eight cells in a battery for a cordless drill. 9.6 V

The markings did not lead anywhere. DF21NF NiCd

Since there are eight cells in the battery, I think they are 1.2 volt nicads.

1 3/4 X 5/8 are the dimensions if that would help with determining the mAH.

Could someone help me in what would be a good replacement ?

Thanks.

 

[miso]

I will be replacing eight cells in a battery for a cordless drill. 9.6 V

The markings did not lead anywhere. DF21NF NiCd

Since there are eight cells in the battery, I think they are 1.2 volt nicads.

1 3/4 X 5/8 are the dimensions if that would help with determining the mAH.

Could someone help me in what would be a good replacement ?

Thanks.

The capabilities of the charger are more important. Battery capacity
tends to go up as time progresses, but the charge rate is very specific
to each chemistry. Not every battery can be fast charged. You don't want
to charge faster than the cells can handle. If your charger is on the
"dumb" side, it probably just has a timer and puts out a fixed current.
I doubt your replacement cells will be lower capacity than the original
cells, so the cells will be undercharged if the charger is dumb. But the
operating time will not suffer.

You should have a pack assembled by a battery supplier unless you have
one of those electro-welders handy. You do not want to solder to batteries.

I have used TNR for nicad packs. They will put the tabs on the ends of
the battery pack and do the cell to cell tab connection. I haven't
checked their website in a while, but I recall they had some standard
battery configurations, i.e. cells in a string with power on opposite
ends, cells snaked around with power on the same side, etc. Or you just
send them a diagram of your physical requirements.

http://www.tnrbattery.com/

Panasonic bought Sanyo, so I don't know if the quality has changed.

 

[Tim Williams]

The capabilities of the charger are more important. Battery capacity
tends to go up as time progresses, but the charge rate is very specific
to each chemistry.

Specific? NiCd? You've gotta be kidding ;-)

I have here a Harbor Freight special, 18V cordless drill, NiCd pack. The
charger is two diodes (and a transistor to indicate when it's drawing
charge current).

Tim

 

[Andy K]

The capabilities of the charger are more important. Battery capacity

tends to go up as time progresses, but the charge rate is very specific

to each chemistry. Not every battery can be fast charged. You don't want

to charge faster than the cells can handle. If your charger is on the

"dumb" side, it probably just has a timer and puts out a fixed current.

I doubt your replacement cells will be lower capacity than the original

cells, so the cells will be undercharged if the charger is dumb. But the

operating time will not suffer.



You should have a pack assembled by a battery supplier unless you have

one of those electro-welders handy. You do not want to solder to batteries.



I have used TNR for nicad packs. They will put the tabs on the ends of

the battery pack and do the cell to cell tab connection. I haven't

checked their website in a while, but I recall they had some standard

battery configurations, i.e. cells in a string with power on opposite

ends, cells snaked around with power on the same side, etc. Or you just

send them a diagram of your physical requirements.




Panasonic bought Sanyo, so I don't know if the quality has changed.

Soldering batteries is not too bad with a high wattage iron.

Now soldering aluminum is impossible, at least for me.

Material cost will be about 8 X 3.00 = $24 for 1700 mAh or

8X .88 cents = $8 for 1300 mAH (I really don't trust anything that cheap.)

 

[tm]

Soldering batteries is not too bad with a high wattage iron.

Now soldering aluminum is impossible, at least for me.

Material cost will be about 8 X 3.00 = $24 for 1700 mAh or

8X .88 cents = $8 for 1300 mAH (I really don't trust anything that cheap.)

You really should listen to what miso says about soldering NiCds or any
battery for that matter. It will instantly ruin them.

Stay away from the Chinese batteries. They mostly do not come close to what
they advertise for capacity.

 

[Carl Ijames]

1.75"x5/8" = 44.4 mm x 15.9 mm, cheapest source for cells I know of is
www.all-battery.com, no they probably don't have the advertised capacity but
I've rebuilt 3 or 4 12 V packs for DeWalts and got decent life out of them.
From the dimensions it sounds like you have 4/5A cells, 4/5AA are listed as
42.5 x 14.2 mm and the 4/5A as 42.5 x 17 mm so check your diameter
carefully. You can get them with tabs already spotwelded on, and then you
can solder the tabs together without hurting the cells. Lots of companies
rebuild packs, after the third or fourth I was tired of it and now I send
them off to www.primecell.com for rebuilding. Cost is not much over what
the cheapest cells I can find are. Don't worry if the capacity is a little
different than the original, depending on how smart the charger is it will
either just take a little longer or they may not quite fully charge but I
bet you won't be able to tell the difference using the tool.

-----
Regards,
Carl Ijames

"Andy K" wrote in message

I will be replacing eight cells in a battery for a cordless drill. 9.6 V

The markings did not lead anywhere. DF21NF NiCd

Since there are eight cells in the battery, I think they are 1.2 volt
nicads.

1 3/4 X 5/8 are the dimensions if that would help with determining the mAH.

Could someone help me in what would be a good replacement ?

Thanks.

 

[Andy K]

You really should listen to what miso says about soldering NiCds or any

battery for that matter. It will instantly ruin them.



Stay away from the Chinese batteries. They mostly do not come close to what

they advertise for capacity.

Thanks.

So they are basically lying.

 

[Andy K]

1.75"x5/8" = 44.4 mm x 15.9 mm, cheapest source for cells I know of is

www.all-battery.com, no they probably don't have the advertised capacity but

I've rebuilt 3 or 4 12 V packs for DeWalts and got decent life out of them.

From the dimensions it sounds like you have 4/5A cells, 4/5AA are listed as

42.5 x 14.2 mm and the 4/5A as 42.5 x 17 mm so check your diameter

carefully. You can get them with tabs already spotwelded on, and then you

can solder the tabs together without hurting the cells. Lots of companies

rebuild packs, after the third or fourth I was tired of it and now I send

them off to www.primecell.com for rebuilding. Cost is not much over what

the cheapest cells I can find are. Don't worry if the capacity is a little

different than the original, depending on how smart the charger is it will

either just take a little longer or they may not quite fully charge but I

bet you won't be able to tell the difference using the tool.



-----

Regards,

Carl Ijames



"Andy K" wrote in message




I will be replacing eight cells in a battery for a cordless drill. 9.6 V



The markings did not lead anywhere. DF21NF NiCd



Since there are eight cells in the battery, I think they are 1.2 volt

nicads.



1 3/4 X 5/8 are the dimensions if that would help with determining the mAH.



Could someone help me in what would be a good replacement ?



Thanks.

Thanks, I will double check the width.

There is about 3 -4 mm of extra room inside the battery case.(on all edges)

The manual says to charge 3 - 6 hrs., so the charger is probably low on the I.Q.

I will go for non-Chinese brands which is probably the cardboard jacketed batteries that are in the original battery.

Andy

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks.

So they are basically lying.

What a surprise.

 

[Andy K]

Nearly all batteries are made in China, but those cheap crappies they

sell on Ebay or unreliable online stores are certainly fakes with no

quality control behind their manufacturers shoulders.



The point is: whenever something cheap can be easily rebranded to look

and be sold as something much more expensive, it usually will be.



This applies to resistors, capacitors, transistors, chips, batteries,

memory cards and modules, etc. ...Tubes too!

I was bitten in the past by fake metal film resistors and today I have 2

bags of 2SK170GR from diferent Ebay sellers, they are 100% identical at

magnifier inspection and work ok, but I had to change their operating

current depending on what bag they're picked from because they behave

very differently, which could mean at least one bag contains fakes.

I am sorry you did not get your money's worth.

I got 8 name brand NiCads C-type for $17.

After I install them, I'll charge it up and test the run time.

If they don't come close to what was advertised, the seller will get some real bad ratings.

And I'll probably tell 10 or more people too.

andy

 

[mike]

I am sorry you did not get your money's worth.

I got 8 name brand NiCads C-type for $17.

After I install them, I'll charge it up and test the run time.

If they don't come close to what was advertised, the seller will get some real bad ratings.

And I'll probably tell 10 or more people too.

andy

If you got 8 REAL C-cells for $17 delivered, I'd like to know where.
Do report their measured capacity, ESR and self-discharge rate.

Measure the cells before you install them.
Don't remember if you're in the solder-em camp, but that's likely
to affect the results...and any claim of defect.

 

[miso]

Measure the cells before you install them.

Don't remember if you're in the solder-em camp, but that's likely
to affect the results...and any claim of defect.

The batteries aren't very expensive from real dealers, and you get the
tabs. I tend to avoid ebay for components.

I've used TNR for personal projects and commercial projects. They do
good work.


BTW I assume SAFT cells are made in Germany. The Germans don't take
kindly to slapping their name on made in China products.

 

[mike]

The batteries aren't very expensive from real dealers, and you get the
tabs. I tend to avoid ebay for components.

I've used TNR for personal projects and commercial projects. They do
good work.


BTW I assume SAFT cells are made in Germany. The Germans don't take
kindly to slapping their name on made in China products.

But, I bet it don't keep it from happening.The sweet spot for REAL C-size NiCd's is about 3.5AH.
I've not found them in the $2 range and would appreciate learning
where his came from.

 

[amdx]

The capabilities of the charger are more important. Battery capacity
tends to go up as time progresses, but the charge rate is very specific
to each chemistry. Not every battery can be fast charged. You don't want
to charge faster than the cells can handle. If your charger is on the
"dumb" side, it probably just has a timer and puts out a fixed current.
I doubt your replacement cells will be lower capacity than the original
cells, so the cells will be undercharged if the charger is dumb. But the
operating time will not suffer.

You should have a pack assembled by a battery supplier unless you have
one of those electro-welders handy. You do not want to solder to batteries.

I have used TNR for nicad packs. They will put the tabs on the ends of
the battery pack and do the cell to cell tab connection. I haven't
checked their website in a while, but I recall they had some standard
battery configurations, i.e. cells in a string with power on opposite
ends, cells snaked around with power on the same side, etc. Or you just
send them a diagram of your physical requirements.

Panasonic bought Sanyo, so I don't know if the quality has changed.

I have used MTO http://www.mtobattery.com/store/
to put new batteries in my DeWalt packs.
I had three repacked about 4 years ago and they still
hold a charge fine. They seemed eager to please.
No relation to the company, just a happy customer.
Mikek