I have a Dewalt 24V coordless hammer drill that the battery was dead, and I mean D-E-A-D. Put it on the charger and the charger reads bad battery. Did some searching on EBAY and came across someone selling information how to revive batteries. Did some googling and discovered that there were a number of unscientific ways of applying bursts of high DC 12v current into the battery (POS to POS and NEG to NEG). Apparently this dissolves cadmium crystals that develop. Hooked up my battery charger and set it to 100 amp car starting mode and nervously touched the contacts for a few two-second bursts, and the battery now maintains a very strong charge. Don't know how long it will maintain this capacity. Wouldn,t necessarily try it on a instrument battery. I just got rid of a RIGID drill in like new condition with two bad batteries. Wish I'da knew then. Try it at your own risk.
I've been told that the rigid batteries have a lifetime warranty.
It does work, but if you melt the seal that keeps the cell from drying out, the cell will die permanently pretty shortly. That's why you should never solder directly to the cell or apply too much heat to the solder tabs welded on by the manufacturer or battery supplier. I think the trick is to apply just enough of a jolt to melt the whiskers, but not enough to heat the insides of the battery. Also, the cells should be dealt with individually rather than the jolt being applied to a string of 2 or more in series.
After melting the whiskers, charge normally.
i'll have to try that.
I have 2 Dewalt 18V batteries that suddenly would not charge.
