How to Revive a Ni-Cd Battery

Ni-Cd, or nickel cadmium, batteries are used for many purposes. You can find them in remote controls, cordless drills and portable gaming systems. Over time, they are not able to hold as much charge as they did when you first bought them. However, it is possible to revive them with a bit of work.

Items you'll need:

• Ni-Cd batteries


• Battery charger


• A battery-powered device

Step 1: Make sure that your batteries are completely discharged. Put them in a battery-powered device like a portable DVD player to ensure that they are completely dead.

Step 2: Place the discharged batteries into your battery charger. Leave them in the charger until they have been completely recharged. If your charger does not have an indicator to tell you when the process is complete, then wait about six hours.

Step 3: Place the freshly-charged batteries back into your battery-powered device. Allow the batteries to run down once again. When the batteries are dead, take them out of the device and let them cool for about ten minutes. Then, place them back in the device again. This time, it should only take a minute or two before they die.

Step 4: Charge the batteries one more time. They should be able to hold more charge because of the revival process you have gone through. If not, you can repeat the process several more times. If you find that the batteries are not holding the proper charge, then you should dispose the batteries and buy new ones.