N is for Ni-Cad

N is for Ni-Cad

I did a review back on April 2 on my Black & Decker cordless tool kit that I have.  The rechargeable batteries that come with the pack are Ni-Cad batteries.  Ni-Cad is short for Nickel-Cadmium batteries. 

For those that may have fallen asleep during science class on what a battery is here is a brief overview of batteries.  A battery works because there is an electrical difference between the two metals that are found in the cell.  This is a chemical difference and the two metals in a Ni-Cad battery are Nickel and Cadmium.  Batteries are useful because you can store that charge in them for time period.  When you use a battery that difference goes down and when you charge it you increase that difference again.

There are some problems that with Ni-Cad batters are that they don’t last very long, they can develop a memory and the charge will deplete over time.  On my B&D tools I can use the drill for quite a while on simple screws, but if I am putting in long screws into hard material it really uses up the battery power.  It also doesn’t have enough reserve to run the circular saw.  A battery memory is where when you over charge the batter some of the crystals in the battery join together, so there becomes less surface area for the charge to go to.  When you charge the battery it will not take as much charge and therefore will not last as long when you go to use it.  If you leave a battery unused for a length of time the charge will leak out and will not have as much charge in it when you go to use it.  This is why the night before I go to use my tools I put the batteries on the charge for a quick charge.

With these limitations why are they so prolific?  Well, it is because those metals were cheap to get.  The alternate battery is the Lithium-ion battery.  It uses Lithium with a combination of various other metals to make the battery.  The Lithium battery lasts longer, does not develop a memory and does not lose as much charge over a given time, but it also costs more.  Over time they are becoming more popular with the cordless tools and I would bet that they will soon become standard if they are already not so.

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