Supplementary Guide: How To Revive A

Dead Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) Battery

Bring Your (NiCd) NickelCadmium

Batteries Back To Life!

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Table of Contents
Copyright ................................................................................................ 2
EZbatteryReconditioning.com Terms & Legal Disclaimer ........................ 3
Introduction ............................................................................................ 7
Why NiCd Batteries Die ........................................................................... 9
What Crystalline Formation Looks Like And What a Reconditioned NiCd
Battery Looks Like ................................................................................. 11
Method One: Full Discharge then Recharge Method ............................ 13
Method Two: Pulse Reconditioning ...................................................... 14
What you need: .................................................................................. 14
Steps: .................................................................................................... 15
Step One: ........................................................................................... 15
Step Two: ........................................................................................... 17
Step Three: ......................................................................................... 18
Step Four: ........................................................................................... 19
Step Five: ............................................................................................ 20
Step Six: .............................................................................................. 21

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Introduction
In recent years it has become harder to find nickel-cadmium (NiCd)
batteries in stores. And while other types of batteries, such as lithium-
ion and nickel-metal hydride, are becoming more common because of
their affordability, there are still instances where nickel-cadmium
batteries have an advantage.

Compared to li-ion batteries, NiCd batteries are much more durable.

And unlike li-ion batteries that can become permanently damaged
when deeply discharged, NiCd batteries handle deep discharging quite
well. In fact, NiCd batteries can even be stored for long periods of time
while fully discharged. They also perform well in rugged and harsh
conditions.

For these reasons, NiCd are perfect for cordless power tools, which is
what theyre most commonly used in these days.

Some people choose to use NiCd batteries because of these advantages

- and other people are forced to use NiCd batteries because thats what
their cordless power tools or other devices use.

But since battery technology is developing more in other areas, NiCd

batteries are slowly being replaced by other types of batteries. So in the
future (and even now), it may be hard to find a replacement NiCd
battery for the particular device that you are using.

Because of this youll not only want to make sure your NiCd batteries
last as long as possible with proper maintenance and care, youll also
want to know how to recondition a NiCd battery so you can extend its
lifespan if it does start performing poorly (or even die).

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So in this guide, well teach you two methods that will bring dead or
poorly performing NiCd batteries back to life again, so theyre back to
nearly 100% of their original working condition.

First though, lets go over why NiCd batteries die so you understand
what our reconditioning methods are actually doing to bring the
battery back to life.

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Why NiCd Batteries Die
Back in the 1970s and 1980s nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries were
widely used in many different applications because, like we already
mentioned, they are rugged and can be deeply discharged. But theres
a reason theyre not as widely used anymore. They have a memory
issue.

The term memory comes from cyclic memory, meaning that nickel-
cadmium batteries remember how much energy was discharged
previously and only deliver that much on a subsequent discharges.

With new advances in battery technology, cyclic memory has been

eliminated from many types of modern batteries. And in the 1990s a
new type of nickel battery - nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) - was
produced and marketed as memory free. Many companies replaced the
NiCd batteries in their devices with the new NiMH batteries; however,
it turns out that NiMH batteries have some memory issues as well
(although, not as bad as NiCd batteries).

Memory occurs in nickel-cadmium (NiCd) batteries if they are

overcharged because this can lead to crystalline formation. And
overcharging occurs if the battery is left in the charger for an extended
length of time or is repeatedly recharged without an occasional full
discharge.

Luckily, there are two methods to reverse this crystalline formation to

bring the battery back to life which well teach in this guide.

Both of these methods are fairly easy to do and if one method doesnt
do the trick, you can try the other. The second pulse method works

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nine out of 10 times in our experience but the first method is so easy to
do, you should probably start with it.

First though, lets take a look at what crystalline formation looks like
and what our reconditioning methods will do to fix this

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 What Crystalline Formation Looks Like And What
a Reconditioned NiCd Battery Looks Like

New NiCd Cell: This is what a new

nickel-cadmium cell looks like up
close (before crystalline formation
occurs). The negative electrode is in
great condition. The Hexagonal
cadmium-hydroxide crystals are
small (one micron) and exposing
large surface area to the electrolyte.

Used NiCd Cell (with Crystalline

formation): This is what a NiCd cell
looks like with crystalline
formation. In this example, the
crystals have grown from one
micron to 50 to 100 microns. This
drastically decreases the active
surface area from the electrolyte.
Additionally, sharp edges can
create further issues that promote self-
discharging and electrical shorts.

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The NiCd Cell After Reconditioning:
This is what the NiCd cell will look
like after we recondition it. The
methods were about to teach you
will decrease the size of the
microns, increasing the active
surface area from the electrolyte.
The 2nd pulse method will actually
restore the microns to a near-
perfect three to five microns.

If you dont quite understand crystalline formation, dont worry! Its

not critical for your reconditioning efforts.

You really only have to understand how to do the two method were
about to teach you and not necessarily why they work. Just try them
out and you should have your NiCd batteries back to nearly 100% of
their original working condition.

So lets start with the easiest method: method one.

Then well teach you the pulse method or method two.

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Method One: Full Discharge then Recharge Method
The first reconditioning method for a dead or poorly performing NiCd
battery is quite basic and easy. So well cover this simple method first.

To do this first method, simply perform a full discharge down to one

volt per cell. Next, fully recharge the battery.

Even if your NiCd battery isnt dead, this should be done every one to
three months.

But its important to note that doing this less often could risk further
damage to the cells from crystalline growth. But doing this more often
can unnecessarily wear down the battery. So aim for every one to
three months.

If a full discharge is not performed for six months or more, the crystals
in the cells become ingrained and a second discharge may be needed. If
this is the case, on the second discharge, slowly discharge the cells to a
voltage cutoff of 0.4 volts or lower. Also, keep the current low because
NiCd batteries can only handle small amounts of cell reversal during
this type of correction.

Often times, poorly performing NiCd batteries can be fully restored

with this simple method. But its important to restore batteries as early
on as you can because large crystalline formation can cause the cells to
self-discharge and make reconditioning more difficult.

If this simple method doesnt work theres a second reconditioning

method that works great and, in our experience, is able to bring a NiCd
battery back to life about nine out of 10 times! So lets take a look at
how to do this second pulse reconditioning method now

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Method Two: Pulse Reconditioning

What you need:

1. Old/Dead NiCd Battery

2. Battery source that has double the voltage

of the battery that you are attempting to
revive.

If for example, you want to revive an

18 volt battery, you'll need a 36 volt
power source. In this guide, the
power source is two 18 volt batteries
connected in series.

*note: in the EZ Battery

Reconditioning members area we show you how to build your
own NiCd Battery Machine that can take the place of this Power
Source. So you can make your own (like we show you how to do in
that guide) if you cant find this type of power source.

3. Wire, preferably 16 gauge

4. The original charger of the dead battery

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Steps:

Caution: Dont use this method for other kinds of

batteries. It only works for NiCd batteries.

Step One:
In this step well set up our power supply. You need a power supply
double the voltage of your dead battery. So if you have a bad NiCd drill
battery thats 18 volts, you need a 36 volt power source. You can either
use one 36v battery or connect smaller batteries (with the same
voltage) in series to get 36v.

Using a Single Battery: If you are using a single battery as your power
supply, attach a wire to both terminals. We recommend zip tying the
wire to the terminals of the battery for two reasons:

1. It ensures the wires are connected securely.

2. This lets you easily take the wires off after the reconditioning
procedure so you can continue using this good battery.

Using Multiple Batteries: If you are trying to recondition an 18v NiCd

battery, you would need a 36v power source. So if you have two other
good drill batteries that are both 18v, you would connect them in series
to get a 36v power source (like in our example).

To connect two batteries in series, connect a jumper wire from the

positive terminal of the first (good) battery to the negative terminal of
the second (good) battery like in the following example.

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 Description: Connecting two 18v batteries in series

*Note: we used zip ties to attach the wires to the terminals. This is a
good way to attach the wires because you can easily remove them once
youre done.

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Step Two:
Connect the negative wire from the power source to the negative
terminal on the dead battery. Hold this steady on the dead battery like
in the following illustration.

*Note: the positive wire from the power source should NOT be
touching the positive terminal of the dead battery yet.

Description: Connect the negative lead of the power source

to the negative terminal of the dead battery

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Step Three:
While holding the negative wire from the power source onto the
negative terminal of the bad battery (which is what we did in the last
step), quickly tap the tip of the positive wire from the power source
onto the positive terminal of the bad battery.

*Note: These taps should be momentary and quick. Do NOT hold the
positive wire of the power source onto the positive terminal of the bad
battery. Instead, quickly tap the positive terminal of the dead battery
with the tip of the positive wire for about six to seven seconds then
stop.

Description: Tapping the positive wire from the power source

onto the positive terminal of the bad battery.

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Step Four:
After you perform step three, detach the power source from the
battery and leave the old battery out to cool for about 15 minutes.

Description: Leaving the old battery out to cool down

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Step Five:
After the battery is cooled off, charge the battery using the NiCd
batterys original charger. Make sure you leave the battery on the
charger until it's completely charged.

Description: Charging the NiCd battery with its original charger

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Step Six:
After you go through these reconditioning steps and then charge the
NiCd battery on its original charger, most NiCd batteries are back to
life! So congratulations because you just reconditioned your battery
and can begin using it again. This just saved you a lot of money!

Sometimes you may have to repeat steps one through five a few times
to get the battery back to life. So if the battery still isn't working, repeat
the previous steps a few times.

This method works nine out of 10 times and youll be amazed at the
condition and performance of your NiCd battery after you try this.

We hope you enjoyed this guide. And we hope you enjoy your like-
new NiCd batteries! Thank you for reading this guide and thank you
for making us your trusted battery reconditioning experts.

Happy Battery Reconditioning,

Tom Ericson and the rest of the EZ Battery Reconditioning family

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