Cordless drill - Improving the battery

Step 1 Disassemble the battery pack

My battery pack had 4 Torx screws (I later replaced with regular Phillips screws for easier access). Inside you'll find 10 NiCad batteries. They appear to be just a bit smaller than 'C' cells, and all attached together in series. 1.2 volts X 10 cells = 12 volts. The cells are marked as 1300 mAH which is why they don't last very long. You will probably want to photograph the arrangement of batteries since you will need to make a new pack look just like this. Also notice the thin insulator that keeps the top battery from shorting against the batteries on the bottom.

Comments

[i805]

you are good Brian very imaginable.

[charmrus]

Just a side topic: if you ever get the brainy idea of changing your nicad batterys to Li-ion you should realize that you need a "deep draw" battery. It what a deep cycle battery is to a normal battery. Plus a charger to charge LI-ions.

[chefmichel]

Great instructable. Thank you Brian.