Instructables TV Vol. 1

Zap tired old Nicad tool batteries back to life with a mig welder.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• batteries
• welder
• zap
• tools
• experiment

[ndawgtkd]

dude, you dont have to be such an ass, he is telling you how, if maybe you had a 180 dollar drill and the battery DIIIEEDDD! then you can try this method to save yourself 50 or so on a new battery, he is not telling you to charge the fucking battery this way, and if the battery is dead what is the welder gonna do?

the guy is trying to help and u are trying to be an ass hole and make him look dumb.

[yerboogieman]

Yeah, but it's tim anderson, he knows what he's doing (sometimes, i think)

[haslips]

this worked great......bought an old 3.6VDC cordless screwdiver and light combo....neither worked well or would take a charge......zapped em both with my 12VDC trickle battery charger.....and viola.....Awesome!

[fireman431]

@cameik Read the name...I'm a fireman...I don't work for any of those companies. I am going to try to my 18v Ryobi batteries. Don't be so defensive...

[cameik]

@fireman431 Notice the protective equipment- goggles, gloves, he wears, also note the time he applies the current to the battery in short bursts... I see no immediate danger should you follow the instructions, only trouble if you should be one of those 'well if zapping for 2 seconds is good, how about I try 4, or 8 seconds?' Tick tick tick BOOOM! kind of people... I bet you work for Makita, or Dewalt, whatsamatter?, is this kind of thing effecting the sale of new drills and battery packs?

[fireman431]

I wonder if the money I save on batteries can go directly to my emergency room deductible when my 18v blows up in my face tommorrow when I try this...

[Crusty9r]

Thanks Instructable Guy! The Snap-On guy just lost out on selling a $110 battery thanks to you! Thanks Instructable Guy! I used the truck battery. I had some spade connectors from an old wiring harness to make my connections. Thanks Instuctable Guy!

[excogitation]

Just fyi - it only works with NiCd batteries, don't try this with NiMh - seriously!

[rez410]

Awesome...thanks for the quick reply

[FrogmanMickey]

I used a couple of test leads with alligator clips on each end but you can use jumper cables if you can get to the battery contacts with them ((they're a bit fat). In a different video the guy said to first zap once with + to - and - to +. That will drive the battery voltage down to 0. Then zap + to + and - to -. BTW, I just zapped some AA NiMH camera batteries using a car battery charger set to 6 volts, 6 amps and it fixed them too. Also the guy who said it doesn't last is wrong.

[rez410]

did you just use jumper cables and hook them up to a car bettery then go positive to positive and negative to negativve?