B&D Drill

Bsck in the day we used to buy these as a good way of getiing a DC motor that would fly a model aeroplane. Without batteries they are simply worthless.

I bet it doesn't have a charger either?

Try wiring it up to a bench supply and see if it spins. If you don't have one of those, a car battery is worth a try.

Have a look at Aliexpress, perhaps you can find an adapter. Even if not, just hardwiring it to the battery would work. Bwware that some makes, eg older non-starred Makita rely on the tool to detect dangerously low battery state and shut off - using them with tools that don't shut off can damage them.

B&D now are TTI's budget range, so they're £30 new. I think the NiCd era ones were better made, but not a patch on a modern brushless.

You can probably trickle charge the NiCd by hand, but it's almost certainly dead anyway.

Theo

Good find on the AVO!

A fiver is good, but they're only around £20 on eBay. They made lots, and nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

They are not all that, indeed, but even though I would prefer my Brymen, six quid is still a decent price for a Model 8.

There are some times when seeing how fast the needle swings is as useful as the final reading.

I had a Wicke’s own brand drill for years. When the battery died, I bought a Parkside drill, complete with charger, two batteries etc, from Lidl.

I noticed that, while the ‘interface’ between the drill / battery was different between the two drills, with a suitable adaptor, I could use the Lidl battery on the Wickes drill.

A search of EBay, turned up a generic, slide on, plate / connector I could use.

There are also a number of pre-made adaptors for other, more common, drills.

The Lidl batteries are 20V but, in my case, the extra 2V isn’t noticeable.

Aldi also do cheap batteries which, I understand, are good value.

Often identical 18V tools are sold elsewhere in the world as 20V tools :) It's purely a BS numbers game.

The problem could arise if the battery protection is in the battery or in the tool.

Many 3rd party "knock off" batteries have no or limited protection for overcharging or running them down to completely flat.

Except when it swings so fast that it develops a 45 degree bend at the point where it hits the end-stop/overload trigger. It was on the 50uA range and I accidentally connected it across a capacitor charged to around 300V. John

I suspect you are correct.

I understand the Parkside batteries don’t have discharge protection, although they do have a simple level meter. I suspect, as their capacity drops, it becomes obvious and the theory is you will swap batteries or pop it on charge.

I’m planning on using one to power a Starlink Mini. As, unlike a drill etc, I doubt it will be so obvious the battery is near its ‘critical’ (for want of a better word) limit, I plan to add a low voltage cut off. I sourced a couple of suitable modules for all of £7. One, a ‘clip’ off EBay, and using one of the 4Ahr Parkside batteries should transform the Mini into a truly portable Satbased internet link.

All my Parkside 12 volt tools (which all use the same batteries) have a set of three - green, yellow, red - LEDs to indicate the state of charge of the bettery. They also just turn off completely if you try and use them 'beyond red' so they appear to have some sort of discharge protection.

(The 12 volt series are not widely available in the UK, all mine were bought in France. Personally I like the more compact batteries and they're plenty powerful enough)

Any reputable manufacturer/badger of lithium battery packs will ensure they have protection from over-discharge, and Parkside is certainly reputable, even if they have their stuff made in China.

Batteries coming direct from China from unfamiliar names should probably be considered risky.