Ni-cad rechargeable battery resurrection??

[6SENSE]

I am having an issue with a 18v Black&Decker battery pack from my weed whacker/trimmer and 15.6v Craftsman battery packs from a drill/driver. They wont charge anymore. The trimmer battery pack wasnt even used more than a couple times!
So I was searching online for some replacement batteries when I came across this: http://rejuvenator.prnc.net/
What do you guys/gals think? Is this a scam or does this sound like something that is even possible? Website sounds and looks credible. Is it worth trying for $13 vs going straight for new battery packs at a much much higher cost?

 

[Jbenn911]

Dont know about that site, but we have a machine at the station that is a conditioner for our portable batteries. It basically short circuits them and/or drains them down and slowly recharges them a few times to give them some more life...Certainly doesnt make them "new" again, but does extend the usefullness a while longer...So there are devices out there that can do it ! One other thing with Ni-Cad's...The will build up a "memory" charge if they arent drained enough periodically and lose the ability to fully charge

 

[dgreen1069]

Save your money and buy some new batteries. That thing might help a little, but I doubt you will be satisfied with the results. If your batteries aren't holding a charge, chances are it isn't going to improve much. If you get new batteries, be sure to charge them for 12-16 hours the first time and try to run them all the way down before recharging them. NiCad batteries are really bad about keeping their charge if they are not charged properly the first time, or are recharged before they are dead. NiMH and Lithium batteries aren't as picky about being recharged.

 

[6SENSE]

Thanks for the replies and advice.
I think your probably right. I will try to see what kind of deals I can run across on some new batteries. Maybe ebay. This is no fun, trying to decide whether it is even worth buying new batteries (depending on the price they cost) or new tools, even though the only thing wrong with the tools I have are that the batteries are no good
I did put a voltmeter on the batteries today to see if they were holding anything at all. One of the B&D 18v ones was actually reading 18v+. However as soon as you put a load on it (i.e. when trying to operate the tool) the voltage would drop all the way down and thus no output. Guess the battery is just defective?