I notice more and more cordless drill that use the good-old NiCd Battery Packs have 1 hour charger.

Check out the following links:
http://www.toolbarn.com/product/panasonic/EY503B7658/ or

http://www.mytoolstore.com/dewalt/dew09-02.html

As far as I know the recommended charge is 10% of the specified Amp capacity over 15 hours.

My question is, is this safe, and will the battery last?

Or do they have any special circuit to handle high current charge, and/or automatic shut off when full?

I am building a small solar powered machine (barrel tumbler) and would like to power the drive motor (salvaged from a cordless screwdriver) with solar cells. In order to keep the duty cycle on the motor low I would like it to operate only under full sun. If I wire a zener diode in series with the motor with a breakdown voltage slightly less that the solar cell arrays output in full sun will that work? I would like to avoid using a battery, charge controller, and timer circuit to regulate for simplicity and cost purposes.
I had planned on using a 3.6V cordless screwdriver motor and gearset to turn the drum. I figured the startup amps for the motor could be determined with a multimeter and then the solar array sized accordingly.

I know zeners are typically used in parallel with a voltage source as shunt to regulate voltage but in this case I'd like to try using it in series to only allow current through in full sun.

Don't really have any specific numbers yet as it's beeing planned and specific components haven't been sourced yet.

Based on your response, the voltage drop across the zener would be 10Volts. I thought when they broke down they were essentially a short, which is why I'd like to wire it in series.

Power wasting is not of concern as the the device is to turn the drum a bit once an a while so I don't have to do it manually....because I'm lazy and forgetful. I suppose if it shortened the life of the diode I would be concerned about that.
the best I can do on the numbers is that the array will be series up out of 0.5V cells to get around 3.6 volts and then paralleled up to get the required current. the actual wattage expected wuring operation through the circuit would be on the order of 2 or 3 watts, 5 at the most.

Just curious. Are diamond drill bits actually made of diamonds? Why use them?

The charger plugs into the back of the drill and is not a separate unit where you take the battery out to place it into a charger. I lost mine and would like to purchase one but cannot find a part number even at the black and decker website.

Do impact guns have a built in torque setting? So when it reaches a certain torque, say 80lbs it just cuts out?

When doing high torquing with a air impact gun, will it wrench your wrist/arm if you dont hold it proper? I have a dewalt 14.4 cordless screwdriver xrp where if you dont holt it properly, it will break your wrist.

What are some things to look for with a good quality impact gun?

What are some things to avoid when purchasing one?

Any recommendations for a good middle of the road air impact gun to handle automotive (axle nuts, crankshaft bolts, lug nuts, etc. etc.)

I've gone to home depot but they didn't know what I was talking about. Also tried auto part stores but they don't seem to have them either. Where do they sell them?

on ebay I bought a Milwaukee 18 volt cordless 4 pack for a decent price. It was in the original packing and you could tell it had never ben used. I charged the battery and squeezed the drills trigger. Orange sparks shot every where out of the back vents and I smelled somthing burning. Could it be fixed? Is it the drill brake hanging up? Should I try to get my money back from the seller? I would rather fix it than return it.

My bag might be a few pounds overweight.
Also can you site a source to your answer???

i want to get set of 18 volt cordless power tools, but i am too cheap to buy them all at once. Can i buy them from differnet brands and still expect the batteries to be interchangable?