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If you cut a potato in half, stick an electrode into each half and place the two pieces with their cut sides very close to each other but not quite touching, have you made a capacitator?
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
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If it powers the flux capacitator will we still need Mr. Fusion for time travel?
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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Place one half potato over each ear.
Whisper you question quietly.
Await their answer.
If they do not reply within 23 minutes then they consider he question a bit half-baked.
Even so, and to bake better, wrap the entire assembly in foil (potato-halves, electrodes, head) and keep that in place until they do answer.
Enlightenment will surely follow.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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In this country at least, no. You'd have made a capacitor. 
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Maybe this is something well known, and I'm just late to the game: If you have a cordless tool, you are likely on a forced replacement scheme, and you don't know it. About 10 years ago I bought a cordless hedge trimmer, and its worked well. In the winter I bring it inside and store it, battery out, in the basement where it keeps relatively nice and warm. This year, after recharging the battery overnight, I went out yesterday to trim the hedge. The battery (NiCad) ran down after about 5 minutes, so I'm guessing its just not holding a charge any longer. No problem, I'll just go to the vendor, a national chain, and get a new battery, right? Um, no. That particular battery is no longer available. And so far, I've been unable to locate a third party replacement part.
It looks like the battery pack is screwed together, so maybe I can take it apart, and replace the individual cells. Maybe. Its probably soldered together, and I'm not sure I'd trust my soldering skills if I have to solder directly to the replacement cells, if I can even find something suitable.
So, in all likelihood, I'm going to have to bin an otherwise perfectly good hedge trimmer, just because I can't replace the battery pack. That's just wasteful. Not to mention an added cost. I do have an old pair of hedge trimming shears, and I used them to finish the job. Maybe I'll just stick with them. But if I replace the electric trimmer, I'll definitely consider a corded trimmer rather than cordless.
So if you have cordless tools that are a few years old, it might be worth buying a spare battery pack, or two, for the future.
Keep Calm and Carry On
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I bought a cordless drill a few years ago for 'the convenience'  and the battery crapped out as you described a couple years later.
My current electric drill is the same corded one that my in-laws bought me for Christmas the year my wife and I got married: 1980.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I thought we learned that back in the '70s.
Rechargeable batteries still have not improved sufficiently for occasional use by the average person. Professionals who use them constantly do get their money's worth.
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This.
My neighbor's a carpenter, and he's been all-in on battery-powered tools for years. What's especially convenient is that since he only buys tools from the same brand, his batteries are all interchangeable.
What amazes me is that his batteries will run power tools all day. Why can't I ever get more than 3 hours from a lousy laptop? Both use lithium-ion batteries. To the laptop manufacturers: Make them bigger/heavier, I don't care.
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I found that if you don't use them regularly they tend to do crapo.
I did construction for about 30 years and have had many cordless tools and the pricier tools are good quality but the battery is a battery. I've had a Porter-Cable drill motor for 6 years or so, $80, one battery and charger on Amazon and after I retired didn't use it on a regular basis until recently and have had no trouble with it. I've had Dewalt that the battery went bad after a couple of years. So all in all I'd say it's a crap shoot, buy good but don't count on battery being of same quality.
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This is why I don't recycle; batteries go into the bin, like glass and paper does.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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This is why when last year I needed a new strimmer and a chainsaw, I bought petrol / gas powered ones.
Batteries are a PITA: they lose charge when it's cold (so they are flat when you want to use 'em), they don't last well, and replacements are expensive.
Hmm ... maybe it's not just the lack of a suitable charging infrastructure that keeps me driving a diesel car ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I've got a cordless strimmer and a cordless screwdriver - I have found that as long as I keep the batteries topped up and don't allow them to go completely flat they seem to last well.
My cordless screwdriver is 13 years old.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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As I understand your issue, it's not that rechargeable batteries eventually die, it's that you can't find replacements, correct?
I've got several 18v DeWalt drills that are 15+ years old, and another 14v drill that is even older. I can still buy batteries for them online and through Batteries Plus.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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You are correct. It looks like I might be able to get a new battery from OrderTree, but its 64 USD, or about 75 CAD. I can get a brand new, corded, trimmer for CAD 100, so it doesn't seem worth the cost. If I poke around on the original vendor's web site, I can find the battery, marked as "no longer available", with a list price of 40 CAD. So that's quite the markup that OrderTree is asking for.
Keep Calm and Carry On
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I have a bunch of Ryobi cordless tools and several batteries. One battery, about 8 years old, finally quit with another about 9 years old following suit shortly afterwards. The more modern batteries seem to be lasting much better, hold more power and work well. I probably have a dozen tools which all take the same batteries and there is a healthy 3rd-party supply of replacements so I am not too worried. I used one or other tool for something fairly often so I suppose refreshing/topping-up like this keeps them going.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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That's why we need battery standards, like the current small batteries (like AA, D ... ).
CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair
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The problem with battery standards is that battery technology is always improving. Today's best in class is tomorrow's noncompetitive entry, and the pro users who drive the market are not going to go for a weak, short-lived battery. Someday, the improvement curve will flatten and standards will be possible.
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That may be, but does the battery format need to be different between vendors, and across technogies? A 20v battery shouldn't matter if is LiIon, NiCad or MrFusion. As long as it can supply 20v at the needed amps, the physical format shouldn't be an issue. Think of all the possible "D" cell battery options. They all supply 1.5v, and can be interchanged one for the other. New technologies don't always require new physical formats.
Keep Calm and Carry On
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Yes, but "D" cells are used for everything whereas a DeWalt battery is used only for DeWalt tools. Until there is an outside force to drive the need for interchangeability, no manufacturer has a reason to look at anyone else's format. Standards groups will not get involved because they have no need to drive a commonality.
In auto manufacturing, the lithium cells used for cars are standardized due to the financial need for lowering the cost. Even the lead batteries used for powering gas-powered cars have no standards as the size of the draw dictates what capacity battery will be needed. At least they have standardized on 12v as a common voltage. But in tools, not enough consumers even care for anyone to take notice.
"The squeaky wheel gets the grease".
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After much, much consideration I recently bought cordless lawn gear. A mower with battery and charger and a line-trimmer skin. I could have bought petrol stuff for considerably less than half as much.
Thing is with this stuff, it comes with a 3 year commercial-use warranty on the battery and 5 years on the gear. The battery I got is about 350 bucks but it's just made with 'std' 20A discharge 18650s and a potted management circuit, as long as you don't bust the sleeves of phase-change material that helps manages temps it's a fairly straight-forward operation. The battery has it's own fan too and even discharges itself to storage voltage if not used for about a month.. 
Perhaps one of the more important aspects of success is as you mention, adequate connectivity between cells. Guess what? You can buy spot-welders intended for doing battery terminals for surprisingly little money. The price of reasonable cells in most any replacement job will in fact, be larger!
30 or 40 aussie bucks will buy something
DIY Portable 12V Battery Storage Spot Welding Machine PCB Circuit BoardB;S* | eBay
Mini Welder Pen Display Spot Welder Machine Equipment 18650 Battery Powered AU | eBay
But that only matters if you can't find cells that already have solder-tags welded to them. You should be able to solder them without being worried about overheating the cells. I soldered directly to the outside of some 18650s last week with a 75w PWM controlled iron - tags on some NiCads should be a doddle with the help of a soldering third-hand.
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NiCad batteries are notorious for failing very early if you don't deplete them almost completely before recharging them. (This does not apply to other technologies, like lead acid or lithium.) Try to run NiCad batteries down to close to zero before recharging them. If, for example, you start recharging them when they still have 80% charge left, they soon lose the 80% capacity that you never use. For this reason I avoid NiCad at all cost.
Also: Cadmium is an extremely toxic carcinogen and I believe these batteries should be banned.
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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It is a waste... but maybe you can turn it into a corded one if you can find a power adapter with the correct power output.
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Try a three-day regime of charge overnight, disconnect in the morning. Run the device for a couple of minutes straight after disconnecting.
Has worked for me on several occasions. It also helps if you never let the battery go much below 40% of its capacity, as this shortens its life.
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