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?

- These battery packs are the same physical Size.
- They both use the same charger.
- I don't want to damage my drill by using the higher voltage pack.

I want to buy my father a cordless powertool kit and my budget is between 5-150. The kit I have decided on has a cordless drill, circular saw, reciprocating saw, and flashlight (w/2 battery packs). I see names like Hitachi, Porter-Cable, Skil, Craftsman, and Ryobi, but I don't know which is the best. All fall within my price range. As for DeWalt and Mikita, I just don't have the money for those. So, can anyone tell me which brand they would choose, given my budget limts?

I have two battery packs for my 18v Dewalt drill and neither will take a charge. Is there a way to revive them so they will charge up?

Unable to ship rechargable battery packs with drills. Hoping to ship drills and place batteries in my luggage. Is this feasable? Legal?

I have a cordless drill with two battery packs that have died. It seems I can't buy replacement pack any longer as the manufacturer no longer makes the part (or the drill, for that matter).

Each battery pack contains 11 NiCD cells labeled "C, 1300mAh, D3 and C37" (see photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sluggo/3356557787 ). A local shop wants EACH to rebuild them—for that price, I could buy a new, fairly high-end drill... But I would prefer to tinker with it myself before I buy a new drill... Anyone know where I might find these cells?

I have a Dewalt cordless drill with two battery packs, neither of them will take a charge, Is there anyway to restore them without replacing the battery packs?