Steve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> (04/30/91)
I have a friend that swears by this method to ressurect 1.25V nicads: Hook them up (with polarity reversed) to a car battery using jumper cables. My friend's not an EE, but these tricks of his that he swears by usually work. I've not tried this one myself, though. Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu
Javier Henderson - TMS Group <henderson@esvax.hamavnet.com> (04/30/91)
In article <telecom11.310.1@eecs.nwu.edu>, jta@hydra.jpl.nasa.gov (Jon T. Adams) writes: > The only practical way to get rid of these crystalline growths is to > apply a massive current that will essentially evaporate the crystals. > The current pulse must be short enough to prevent undue damage to the > battery yet enough current must be applied to destroy the whiskers. It should be noted that Nicads can explode if the pulse is too strong and/or too long. I've seen it happening before, when a friend was trying to resurrect a few cells, and one went kaboom on him. He knew of the dangers so he was applying the current to the cells while they were inside a clear plastic box. Javier Henderson Engineering Services Avnet Computer Los Angeles, CA henderson@hamavnet.com {simpact,asylum,elroy,dhw68k}!hamavnet!henderson