[Vwdiesel] Nicads That Live In Packs Will Die!

[Mark Shepherd]

All series multipacks of Nicads are destined to die
prematurely. The only exception to this would be either if
they were electrically identical or kept within strict
limits of charge.
Why?
If you have a 'string' of Nicads then when discharging
through use their power suddenly dips when near exhaustion.
Other batteries in the gang will still be showing 'near full
power' and so are forcibly discharging through the already
discharged 'weakling' This sends the dead battery into
another chemical state where it would not go if discharging
naturally.
Nicads also grow whiskers!
These are metallised shorts that limit charge levels. IIRC
the whiskers can be burnt off (sometimes) with a burst of
relatively high voltage say 12V (Don't quote me on this 'V'
though) I think its done + to + but I'll have to check if I
can find the old forum source for the info.
Mark-The-Miser-UK