Sub-C NiCads from tool store

[Ellis Easley]

Another "bargain" item I mentioned before was cordless tool battery packs which are full of sub-C NiCads. I got a new catalog that has the 12V pack for the drill I mentioned before, for $9.99, or a dollar per cell. They still have the drill with keyless Jacobs chuck for $17 and now the price on the same drill with keyed chuck is $15. I had already bought the keyless chuck drill and it is so nice, I didn't want to cannibalize the battery, so I was happy to see the battery packs at a good price and ordered several. The battery pack in the drill contains Chinese-made cells with brown paper insulators marked 1300 mAh. I know this is less than the usual 1400 for a sub-C. The cells look fine and the spot-welding and lead dress are fine also. I figure if they will work for a reasonable amount of time with a drill, they should be coasting running a tape drive, thermal printer, or HP-97. The website is harborfreight.com.