discharging nicad batteries??

Aug 05, 2003 1 Replies

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.


Yes it would. A 12V tail light bulb will quite happily discharge a 9.6V pack.

Ideally you should monitor the voltage of _each_ cell to ensure it does not go below about 0.8-1V but that's complicated. Usually it's good enough to stop the discharge at 1V per cell x Number of cells = 8V in your case.

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